Behind the thin Veil of reality
by Atilas
Summary: Humanity ascended to the stars, discovered new races and let its foolish occult past behind, or at least tried. For as always, where humanity goes, the darkness follows and, no matter how much it denies it, humanity's predator still roam the shadows. In this new age of technology, the powers they wield are far more terrifying than anything out there in the cold dark empty space.
1. Prologue

This story is mainly a side-project so don't expect regular updates or fix chapter size. Sorry. I will use NWoD previous to the God-Machine. The M rating is there because, even though there is not a lot in the prologue, it wouldn't be a World of Darkness story whitout some gothic horror and a couple of 'I have no mouth and I must scream' moments. Also, aggravated damages.

Thanks to DeathAdder 47117 for the spell checking.

Review in bad or good.

Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and World of Darkness belongs to White Wolf.

* * *

**Prologue:** Encantado

The club wasn't a place to talk. The loud repetitive music, the fast blinking blinding lights, the fast moving bodies on the dance floor, the overpriced selection of fast acting alcohols, the half-hidden drug dealers in the shadowy corner and the scantily clad asari waitresses made that pretty clear. It was a place to lose yourself, a place where people went to forget about their day, about their imperfect lives, their imperfect wives, their imperfect jobs, their imperfect whatever and, more recently, it was a place where people get to forget about. Of course, Manira didn't know about the last part but she very well intended to do the other things. Working for Citadel News, the galaxy's biggest news group, as a lowly assistant that constantly gets ordered around by stick up their ass Matriarchs was, surprisingly, not as entertaining as she had imagined it when she got that job. Now she was going to be the one giving the orders and she had just the right servant for the night in sight. The human was sitting at the bar, dressed with clothes that made him stand out of all the bodysuit wearing costumers. With his dark overcoat with a hood, real leather boots that stopped just under his knee, grey pants, belt full of pouches, black vest over a white shirt with a pinned pentagram, his red and silver scarf, armored brassard, black gloves with gold thread that formed symbols she didn't understand and an odd looking armament, a sword and strange looking firearm that definitely wasn't a mass accelerator, he really had a sort of strange anachronistic aura that attracted her. She sat on the stool next to him, setting her gaze on him and displaying all those things humans are attracted to.

"Hi. Can I buy you a drink?"

It wasn't the best or more subtle approach but human males were crazy for asaris so it should be okay.

"Thanks, but no."

Almost as if all of this had been planned on advance with the barman, a jaded looking turian put a small glass half filled with a dark amber liquid in front of him the moment he spoke those words.

"But I'm sure someone in here will take your drink offer."

Now that was something new but she wasn't going to back down for so little.

"Too bad. Care for a talk then?"

"This is not a place to talk." His voice was barely over a murmur, yet she could hear it perfectly. Her, on the other hand almost had to scream all of her words, but she was too upset to pay attention to that fact. Humans don't usually resist when asaris go at them, their libido has been and is still the subject of many crusty gossip between maidens after all. But now, this one wanted to give her a challenge, oh well, no problem then because she was going to win it. Discreetly, she unzipped the front of her suit just a little more, exposing a bit more cleavage, took a quick shooter and turned back toward him. While she was doing that, he had slip a thin smoking tube between his lips and set his gaze upon a small disk shaped thing that made a faint tic-toc sound she probably shouldn't have been able to hear and which was resting in his palm.

"What's that thing?"

She came closer, putting her arm against his.

"Time keeper."

"Isn't it a little big?" Yeah, why bother with that when you could simply use your omni-tool clock app.

"Maybe, but this one doesn't get fooled as easily."

What did he meant by that? That he was afraid of someone hacking his clock app? Why would someone do something that pointless? Anyway, he put his strange clock back inside one of his vest pocket and shifted his gaze to her. He had red amber eyes that were only lit by the weak glow of his smoking stick. It was the only part of his visage not hidden by the shadow that his hood casted down on his face, even the club lighting could not pierce them.

"So, miss Manira, since you insist what can I do for you?"

It was as if he had dropped a bucket of ice on her head.

"How do you know my name?"

He smirked. "I know a lot of things, your name, from where you are, of your job at Citadel News, of your apartement on the Wards, I know that your little sister will come to visit next week and that it makes you worried because you don't know if you will have enough credits to pay this week's rent and I know of your dept to Banro, a volus who deals in human cocaine."

She rose from her stool and rushed to the bathroom. The combined action of the way stronger than she had thought shooter and the stranger's creepy talk had pushed her on the brink of throwing up and of a panic attack. She washed her face with cold water, her mind boiling underneath. How did he know all of those things about her, some she hadn't told anyone about. Was he one of Banro's dept collectors? Shit, coming here had been a bad idea, a really bad one. She had simply been trying to forget about her shitty life for a couple of hours. Was that really too much to ask for, to forget just for a little while. After a last deep breath, she plunged her hand into the water full sink, splashed her face one last time and ran away. Well, she would have except that something suddenly grabbed both of her hands, keeping them underwater.

"What the..."

She pulled again. Uncertainly at first, then violently when her hands continued to be kept in place and she began to feel vicious bony fingers tighten around her wrist. She tried to scream, but her voice came out as the faint sound of glass being scratched against glass and that hurted her throat like as if she was swallowing a knife, making trying to speak for more than a second an agony. By that point, she was already completely terrified and panicked, unable to understand what was happening. Then, her fearful eyes set upon the mirror over the sinks. Rather than her own terrorized and dishevelled image, the reflection was the one of a fresh looking maiden in formal looking clothing and with a journalist hover-cam. She was smiling, a smile that was making Manira cringe her teeth and made her want to run away even more which, considering her situation, gave a good idea of how scared she was. If that wasn't already enough, it began to talk.

"Manira."

Her voice was gentle, sensual, and confident that made the asari want to rip her ear tubes out.

"Come with me."

The pressure on her wrist was such that the water had begun to be tainted purple with her blood.

"I will make you forget about it, about everything. Come party with me."

Manira felt the pressure against her back and the salted breath on her neck. Something, something that isn't supposed to exist outside of fiction, something she didn't know anything about, was whispering at her ears and was being goddess damn persuasive.

"I know pleasure that will make you scream."

She could feel hands running along her body, caressing her, appeasing her. She didn't even feel her painful wrists anymore, neither did her hands and forearm.

"Come with me."

The yes was on Manira's lips when there was suddenly a sound extremely out of context, a sound akin to a whiplash and which was accompanied with a brief flash of light and heat. The seductive murmur of the thing changed to a screeching howl that shattered the mirror and made half of the bathroom lights explode, sending glass fragments flying everywhere. At the same time, the asari felt herself being dragged back from the sink by something whose strength was more on the level of a Krogan than anything else, breaking both of her wrist in the same motion. She and the thing crashed on the ground, violently and painfully. Dazed, she turned her head in what she hoped was the direction of the sound, what she saw was a cloud of white surrounding the cloaked man from before with his odd fuming pistol in his raised left hand. From behind her the thing let go of another eardrum piercing scream, literally. It's hands had lost their delicate touch, replaced by sharp claw like nails that dug inside her arm's skin that made her want to scream, except she couldn't.

It wasn't so much the fact that every word felt like as if someone was sweeping her throat with a ball of iron filings that made it so. More likely, it was the world had exploded into chaos as, in what seemed to be an instant, the man drew his strange sword, the thing leaped at him with a howl and the last light gave up. What followed was a concert of screams, grunts, painful yelp, screeching, the slicing of flesh by sharp metal, the boom and flash of a lightning bolt, more yelps but weaker this time, then, the sound of something being crushed, something being cut and, finally, fire. Standing over the burning corpse of the thing that looked like an asari, that smelled like an asari, that sounded like an asari and yet wasn't an asari no matter which way you looked at it was the man with the bloody sword. In the eerie shifting light of the flames, he looked like some kind of monster hunter from some fantasy novel. The problem was, of course, that she certainly wasn't in a novel.

His sword now mysteriously clean, he slid it back into its sheath and shifted his sight from the creature to her. His eyes were two bright incandescent embers while his entire body was surrounded by thousands of tiny blue sparks. The air around him was vibrating with heat and power and it was as awesome as it was terrifying. That was the last thing she saw before passing out.

* * *

The sound of her alarm clock rang inside Manira's small apartement and the blue light of Thessia's oceans appeared live on her computer screen, forcing the asari awake. She let her still half asleep self be bathed by the calm blue shades of light as she tried to order her fuzzy thoughts.

"Wow, that was a strong shooter."

It wasn't her first drunk black-out, actually, considering she had woken up on her bed and not in some smelly den belonging to a shady turian or, goddess forbid, a batarian, it was one of her tamest alcohol induced black-out. Inside her mind, last night's events were already beginning to fade and rearrange themselves into something that, though a lie, was at least acceptable for her conscious self. The creature that looked like, sounded like and felt like but wasn't an asari was slowly being changed into a blurred memory of a violent drunk, the man of a sword became a C-Sec officer, his lightning aura the one of a biotic, all until it was nothing but another night at the club, yes, that exactly what it had been. In a little time, she wouldn't even need to repeat it to herself in order to belive it. In one move she rose from her bed, ignoring the weak pain coming from her wrist and going on with her usual hangover morning routine. She didn't have a hangover but that wasn't going to stop her.

First, shower, hot shower. She dropped her tainted clothes, glancing over the purple marks and small cuts at the sleeves. What was the saying already, if you don't look at it, it will go away. Anyway, that's what Manira told herself under the hot streams. Losing herself the moment, she didn't notice the incoming call on her omni-tool before it began to sound aloud.

"Manira, it's Banro speaking. I am happy to see you have finally paid your dept to me. When you will need more of it, come see me at the usual place."

'What?' She didn't remember paying him back. She wanted to but she never had the credits to do it, not in a million years. What was going on here? Had he just went insane or fucked up is calculation? Improbable but if she was free of him and his constant threats, then good riddance. Once that part was over, she got dressed, drank a concentrated coffee substitute, damn this thing was a lifesaver, grabbed a cab and went on to work.

* * *

Citadel News has many offices scattered on the Citadel in order to always be the first on the scene. One on each Ward, small ones around the docks and the main one at the Presidium. When she had been hired to work at the last one, Manira had thought herself lucky. Then she had been inside, over the shiny secretary desk and immaculate waiting area, inside the heart of the beast. There, assistants passed by faster than bullets, hired in the morning and leaving in tears the evening. With a month of seniority, she was the oldest one, that gives an idea of the working conditions. With two other poor souls, Manira was the all but in name slave of matriarch Vali'T Den, executing her every wish with no questions asked. It was actually because of her that Manira had gotten into the whole drug thing. Hey, that was it; it must have been her who paid back Banro. Guess she wasn't as heartless as she thought she was. With that in mind, she entered her boss office. Behind her desk and wearing the latest in designers clothing, the Matriarch was peering over the last hour's reports.

"Yes?"

She spatted the words in her direction like one would snap a whip.

"I simply want to thank you for the reimbursement." Manira said whit a slight bow.

There was a slight pause, than another snap.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. There are reports on your screen; I want them corrected in an hour. And make sure nobody comes to bother me."

Troubled, Manira backed off from the dragon's lair to her shared office, finding the two others girl completely focused on a computer. What a perfect way to not further question the origin of the mountain of credits from nowhere.

"What are you doing you two?"

One of them turned toward her, she didn't bother to learn the name of people before a week with them and this one had only been here two days, even so she was already showing signs of heavy stress and lack of sleep.

"Manira, you were at the Vortex last night right?"

"Hmm, yes why?

The asari dragged her in front of the screen.

"Look."

It took Manira a moment to understand just what she was looking at. It was a video from what seemed to be a cheap security camera depicting a bathroom. An asari enter and, even though her face remained concealed, Manira could clearly recognize herself. She watched as she approached one of the sinks, the face of the asari still hidden, and reproduced all of her last night's movements.

"Now that's when it gets interesting." One of the girls whispered.

The image began to blur and distort, freezing for a second before restarting, and for some strange reason, the darks became deeper and the white shifted to grey. Behind what looked to be herself, something crept out. It was a mix of shadows that seemed to always be just too much outside the screen to be clear and when it wasn't the image screeching made it impossible to discern anything of it. The form mixed with the asari on the camera and began murmuring. The camera didn't have any micros of course, but the words rushed through Manira's mind, still clear like if the thing was whispering them in her ears. She could feel her wrist and the place where the thing had touched her become cold, as if an ice spike had been jammed into her.

Again, the video jumped forward, showing the dark form violently jerk backward out of the frame as the man entered it, brandishing its strange armament and as blurred as the thing was. The image then became dark and stuttered for a couple of seconds before freezing on a frame. On it, the cloaked human was struggling against what appeared to be some sort of creature, a mix between a human female and an asari with long blue liquid like hair that touched the ground, slim limbs that bent at weird angles and ended with black red nails, or where they claws? The most striking and terrifying detail about it was its face. It was the one of a beautiful Matriarch but her mouth, her mouth was just too big. Her lips went from the base of her left ear to the right, forming a sick grin, and was nothing but rank after rank of small black triangular teeth. With his sword, the shadowy man was pushing the creature back while his left hand was fizzling with pure lightning sparks. Then, the video stopped.

"So, what do you think?"

Manira was at a loss of words and brain cells.

"W... what?"

"What do you think about this? It appeared on the extranet a couple of hours ago, no author, no title, no nothing. My bet is on a teaser for a new human movie."

Manira simply looked at her with empty eyes.

"They even trashed the Vortex bathroom last night and you were there so, did you see anything?"

She stared blankly at the frozen image for a moment before answering.

"No. I didn't see anything."

"Oh, too bad."

In some sort of second state, the shocked asari walked back to her desk and dropped on her chair. On automatic, she summoned the video from the extranet where it was pretty much the sensation of the moment and paused it on her screen. Silently, she scanned the picture for details, any detail that might give her something more than a pair of burning eyes to search for.

"What are you?"

* * *

_Codex Entry_

**Human occult**

Humanity's occult history is a fascinating subject to many asari scholars. It's depth and richness is surprising to many of the Citadel races, especially to those who have distanced themselves long ago from their old beliefs. The youngness of the human race compared to the others is the main theory explaining their large occult culture, as is the only recent unification of the humans for the diversity of it. Human scholars studying the occult history of humanity have acquired a reputation for strangeness and odd quirks amongst their peers from other races. Though, this might be due to the 'bad luck' reputation associated by humans to the field as well as the higher than usual number of odd deaths for the people involved in this academic discipline. Recently, an asari and salarien archaeologist expedition disappeared while exploring the ruins of an old human empire called the Aztec Empire. Human officials have offered no comments as of yet.

* * *

Next chapter will be with the main character, the man, either in first or third person. Can anyone guess is 'race'?

* * *

**Timeline**

This timeline might be uptaded in the future.

**2148 CE: Humanity Discovers Mass Effect Physics**

-Humanity discovers a small cache of highly advanced Prothean technology hidden deep beneath the surface of Mars on the south polar region of Promethei Planum. Building on the remnants of this long extinct race, humans quickly explore the science of mass effect fields, leading to the development of faster than light travel and beginning detailed exploration of the Sol system.

-A cabal of the Free Council and Mysterium fought against a Seer cabal over the more archeological remain of the Prothean cache, looking to decipher the most of it. Though the two Pentacle's cabals did manage to translate most of the remaining texts and learn of the Prothean fate, the Seer cabal managed to destroy the immemorial treasures with explosive and a precise application of magic that buried the remain and hid the destruction under an avalanche.

**2149 CE**

-Following information from the translated data cache on Mars, humans discover that Charon, Pluto's moon, is actually a massive piece of dormant Prothean technology, a mass relay, encased in ice. Once activated, Jon Grissom leads the first team of explorers through the relay, which instantaneously transports them to another relay in Arcturus, 36 light-years away. The explorers discover that the mass relays are part of a vast network, making travel across the galaxy possible.

-Using their influence over the NASA and the CNSA, the Seer of the Throne manipulate the eighteen largest nations on Earth to sign the System Alliance charter. Several well hidden clause of the charter virtually kill all competitions in the Space sector by establishing a monopole between several Seer controlled companies. The Alliance soon becomes the military and exploratory spearhead of humanity.

**2150 CE**

-Miranda Lawson is born.

-The Systems Alliance begins the first surveys for colonization prospects outside the Sol System. One of these surveys discovers the planet Terra Nova.

-The Silver Ladder takes hold of the FKA and ESA, now reduced to a shred of its former, already small, size and reorient them. Limited by the System Alliance chart, their new official goal is to explore new system for future mining or other commercial endeavours.

**2151 CE**

-To defend its expanding territory, humanity begins constructing a massive military fleet and space station at Arcturus, the nexus of several key mass relays, even though they have yet to encounter another intelligent spacefaring race.

-An accident at Singapore International Spaceport exposes hundreds of humans to dust-form element zero. Roughly 30% of the children born in Singapore after element zero exposure suffer from cancerous growths. After his mother is exposed during the accident, Kaidan Alenko is born later that year with biotic potential.

-The System Alliance militarization start to drain on the military and scientifical resources of all the members. Through the NASA and the military-industrial complex establish an unofficial monopoly on the System Alliance military branch.

**2152 CE**

The Delta Pavonis Foundation, a major consortium based on Earth, begins settlement of humanity's first extra-solar colony world, the planet Demeter. Later that year, additional colonies are founded on Eden Prime and Terra Nova.

-Thane Krios is submitted for training as an assassin under the hanar.

-The FKA and ESA complete their fusion as the PESA (Pan European Space Agency) and began the building of a trading fleet

**2154 CE**

-April 11: Shepard is born.

-There is a second publicized accident involving the exposure of humans to element zero.

-With the rise of mass accelerator and barrier, a Cabal of Adamantine Arrow began searching for a way to bypass the latter and get rid of the problem of the former. They ended up creating the Disruptor ammunition for firearm.

**2155 CE**

-Saren Arterius is promoted to active service in the turian military at the age of 16.

-The Systems Alliance occupies completed portions of Arcturus Station, intended to become the Alliance's headquarters.

-Several sections of Arcturus Station disapear from the blueprints as well as the employees having built them who all succumb to a rare form of cancer in the months following.

-Jeff "Joker" Moreau is born.

**2156 CE**

-Arcturus Station is formally inaugurated.

-A small number of human children exposed to element zero exhibit minor telekinetic abilities.

-Many of those children's attract the attention of various supernatural groups. Several are kidnapped over the following year and experimented upon. Realizing that those abilities were completely natural, many such group either converted the kidnapped children or disposed of them. Small human like bones are found in the Arcturus Station. Investigation is pending.

-Kai Leng is born.

**2157 CE**

-Pluto's orbit becomes circularized as a result of mass relay operations.

-Jacob Taylor is born.

-David Anderson graduates from Officer Candidate School with the rank of Second Lieutenant.

-Several mages gifted in the Time arcana and other creature with the gift of foretelling learned of a looming threat from space and alien origin that would soon befall the colony of Eden Prime. Plans are being put into place.

_**Council Era - Advent of Humanity (2157 CE - 2183 CE)**_

**2157 CE: The First Contact War**

-Humanity makes violent first contact with another spacefaring race: the turians. The turians observe human explorers attempting to activate a dormant mass relay, a practice forbidden by galactic law after the Rachni Wars, and attack. Over the next three months, a brief but tense conflict known by humans as the First Contact War and by turians as the Relay 314 Incident ensues.

-The events of Mass Effect: Revelation begin. Admiral Jon Grissom travels to Arcturus Station to congratulate graduates of the Systems Alliance's N7 training program and meets David Anderson. Grissom announces that an unknown alien force has attacked an Alliance post at the colony of Shanxi.

-The First Contact War culminates in the turian siege and occupation of Shanxi, the first human world to fall to an alien race. Admiral Kastanie Drescher leads the Second Fleet in battle against Shanxi's occupiers one month later, catching the turians by surprise and evicting them from the planet.

-A Cabal of Adamantine Arrow joined the militia and made several raids against the turian elite troops, looking for signs of supernatural activities.

-Using a favor some mage owned them, a group of vampire from the Order Dracul made their way to the planet and the large forests around the equator to play with the turian. They soon were renamed the Impaled Forests by the alien.

-A pack of werewolf using an original T-34 spiritually awaken as their totem roamed through the North hemisphere, engaging several turian units. By the end of the three months war, it had destroyed 89 enemys armored vehicles and damaged much more.

-Several turian high ranking officer disappear, sometime from their own room, and many were never found even after the war. Of the total of 27 kidnapped turian, the Pentacle Orders only recognized having taken nine and claimed having returned them with only their memories missing. Though the declaration of the Guardian of the Veil is, as always, considered suspect.

-During the war, a record of 47 major time rewind (More than 12 hours) are recorded.

-The turians prepare for a full-scale war against humanity, but this draws the attention of the Citadel Council. The Council intervenes before hostilities escalate further, revealing the existence of the greater galactic community to humanity and brokering a peace between them and the turians.

-The events of Mass Effect: Evolution occur. While aiding the human resistance effort on turian-occupied Shanxi, mercenary Jack Harper becomes embroiled in a plot by turian general Desolas Arterius to use an ancient alien artifact, the Arca Monolith, to convert the turian race into an army of invincible "meta-turians". Harper convinces Desolas' brother Saren of the dangers of the Monolith, which is "devolving" the turians into mindless beings under the Monolith's control. To protect his people, Saren orders the destruction of the building holding the Monolith, Temple Palaven, with Desolas and the meta-turians inside.

-Jack Harper awaken as a Mastigos and soon join the Silver Ladder.

-An anonymous extranet manifesto is published following the end of the First Contact War. The manifesto calls for an army, a "Cerberus", to be established to defend humanity against inevitable alien attacks. Derided as "survivalist rhetoric written by an illusive man", the manifesto is quickly forgotten by the media.

**2158 CE**

-Humans learn the potential of biotics. An international effort to track element zero exposures begins. Roughly 10% of recorded exposed children show indications of biotic ability.

-Jack Harper quickly rise through the ranks of the Silver Ladder. Cerberus stop its first STG team. April 14: Ashley Williams is born.

-Solomon his born.

**2159 CE**

-Saren Arterius becomes the youngest turian to be inducted into the Spectres.

-The Systems Alliance purchases Gagarin Station for a fraction of its construction cost, and converts the facility into a biotic research and training facility.

**2160 CE**

-The Parliament is formed.

-Through the System Alliance, the Seer of the Throne strengthen their hold on the extra-solar colonies educational system.

-The PESA trading company expand into Council Space, managing to establish themselves even against the Asari companies opposition. Magic might have been involved.

-With the existence of human biotics firmly established, the Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training (BAaT) program is set up on Gagarin Station to train potential candidates and develop biotic implants.

-The biotic drug red sand is first used. The Cheiron group, a branch of the Sirta Foundation, see its profits skyrocket.

-The Blue Suns mercenary group is founded by Zaeed Massani and Vido Santiago in the Skyllian Verge.

-Kasumi Goto is born.

**2161 CE**

Amid concerns over gene therapy and genetic modifications being misused, the Systems Alliance Parliament passes the Sudham-Wolcott Genetic Heritage Act. It imposes sharp restrictions on controversial uses of genetic engineering, but provides government subsidies for beneficial applications. Again, controlling most of the Parliament, this Act allow the Seer to establish another monopoly on gene therapy.

-Tali'Zorah nar Rayya is born.

-Jack is born.

**2162 CE**

-Construction of Arcturus Station is completed.

-A survey team working for batarian entrepreneur Edan Had'dah discovers a mysterious artifact orbiting an unnamed planet near the Perseus Veil.

**2163 CE**

-The Alliance secretly begins illegal AI research at a base on Sidon with Dr. Shu Qian as project leader. Lt. Kahlee Sanders is assigned as a tech analyst.

-The PESA also began research on IA. Unbeknownst to those working on the project except for a cabal of Free Council, the research is directed by an actual AI that was created back in the 21th century by the Free Council who, as a homage, was named Hal.

-The first experimental L1 biotic implants are used in humans. Some countermeasure in case of rebellion are added in secret.

-A series of starship drive failures are orchestrated by the Seer over populated areas on human colony worlds, causing widespread exposures to element zero. This results in a second generation of humans born with biotic potential.

-The Leviathan of Dis, a genetically-engineered living starship believed to be nearly a billion years old, is discovered by a batarian survey team on the planet Jartar. The Leviathan disappears under dubious circumstances after a batarian dreadnought passes through the Dis system.

**2164 CE**

-Ivor Johnstagg is sentenced to 21 years in prison for attempting to assassinate Venta Tox, the volus ambassador to the Citadel. Although Johnstagg claims to be acting on behalf of the radical human political party Eternal Earth, no connection is found and Johnstagg is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Backlash from the assassination attempt jeopardizes the Systems Alliance's bid for an embassy on the Citadel.

-The Guardians of the Veil denies any implication.

**2165 CE**

-Humanity continues to expand, founding more colonies and establishing trade alliances with many of the other species who recognize the authority of the Citadel Council. In 2165 CE, the Council makes official recognition of humanity's growing power and influence in the galactic community. Humanity is granted an embassy on the Citadel, the political and economic heart of the galaxy. Tensions grow between humans and batarians as they compete for territory in the Skyllian Verge.

-The Obscurus system is cut off from the Relays network by mages and the terraforming of its thirteen planets began.

-The events of Mass Effect: Revelation continue**.** After an Alliance research station at Sidon is attacked, David Anderson searches for those responsible alongside Kahlee Sanders, and discovers an Alliance scientist, Dr. Shu Qian, was conducting illegal AI research to unlock the secrets behind a mysterious artifact discovered near the Perseus Veil. Eventually, Anderson is assigned to work with Saren Arterius to track down Dr. Qian and his batarian supporter, Edan Had'dah. However, Saren instead kills both Dr. Qian and Had'dah, blames Anderson for the mission's failure, and uses Dr. Qian's research to search for the artifact himself.

-Terrorists steal antimatter from the Alliance cruiser SSV Geneva. The sole figure arrested names his sponsor "Cerberus". This is the first such incident of sabotage connected to the Cerberus organization.

-After a disagreement between Vido Santiago and Zaeed Massani over hiring batarians into the Blue Suns, Vido betrays Zaeed and leaves him for dead. All records of Zaeed's involvement in the Blue Suns are erased.

-Jack is abducted by Seer of the Throne agents on Eden Prime. They fake her death and take her to the Teltin Facility on Pragia as part of a project intended to improve biotic potential in humans.

**2166 CE**

Commander Vyrnnus, a turian mercenary, is hired to oversee the training of human biotics at BAaT. The Seer of the Throne intent is to both train the human biotics and make them develop deep xenophobic feeling.

**2167 CE**

-L2 biotic implants are first developed and used in humans. Kaidan Alenko is among the first to receive the new implants.

-The magazine Fornax is launched.

-Several independent scientific groups tries to raise awareness about possible secondary effect of the System Alliance gene therapy. Notably in the development of some higher cognitive functions. Discret blackmail and assassination managed to shut up most of those groups. Those left and protected are still embroiled into a Lawyers war with the System Alliance.

**2168 CE**

-Kaidan Alenko accidentally kills Commander Vyrnnus after being provoked. The diplomatic fallout with the turians results in BAaT being shut down a year later.

-Shepard receives secondary exposure to element zero. Permanent biotic inclination manifests.

**2170 CE**

-The human colony of Mindoir is attacked by batarian slavers. Many colonists are killed or captured.

-Solomon awaken as an Obrimos.

-Cerberus, in face of the growing batarian slavers problem and divination of future attacks, manage to ally several Cabal from all of the Pentacle Orders around a large project. Many of those still form the core of Cerberus.

-The PESA announce that it will began the construction of a mega hauler ship.

-Another human colony, Yandoa, suffers catastrophic dust-form element zero exposure to its atmosphere when an Eldfell-Ashland Energy ship explodes in orbit. Many children suffer birth defects; thirty-seven biotic children are born, including Gillian Grayson.

-Biotic training for humans is outsourced to the military, selected R&amp;D companies, and renamed divisions of the defunct Conatix Industries.

-L3 biotic implants are developed after L2 implants prove to be dangerous.

-The first A-61 Mantis Gunships are produced.

**2171 CE**

-In protest at the refusal of the Citadel Council to limit human expansion in the Skyllian Verge, the batarians close their embassy, withdraw into their home systems, and effectively become a rogue state.

-Shepard is officially detected as a biotic and fitted with L3 implants and conditioned at Arcturus Station.

-Solomon join the Adamantine Arrow.

-The Guardians of the Veil fails to prevent the assassination of Pope Clement XVI on Earth via rosary beads coated with toxic substances; his death is attributed to age and heart failure. His successor, Pope Leo XIV, espouses beliefs more in-line with the Seer's ideals.

**2172 CE**

-April 11: Shepard enlists in the Alliance military.

-November 14: Kai Leng enlists in the Alliance military.

-On Gagarin Station, "Eliza" becomes the first sapient AI created in the Systems Alliance.

**2173 CE**

-A fly-by over the world of Armeni discovers odd surface protrusions. Upon closer inspection, they are identified as elaborate crypts made by the zeioph, an extinct spacefaring race. Various human universities seek to perform excavation, but Council laws that hold burial sites as sacrosanct prevent this. An ongoing debate over the issue ensues.

-The Mysterium does not care for politics and some cabals start archeological dig on Armeni.

-Terra Firma is involved in a Nashan Stellar Dynamics kickbacks scandal, forcing Inez Simmons, the current party leader, to resign. Charles Saracino becomes the new party leader after his opponent, Claude Menneau, is assassinated by Seer's operatives while en route to Shanxi. Publicly, Menneau's disappearance is never explained.

-Kaidan Alenko enlists in the Alliance military.

**2174 CE**

-Ashley Williams enlists in the Alliance military.

**2175 CE**

-On a survey mission to 2175 Aeia, an important colonization prospect for the Systems Alliance, the MSV Hugo Gernsback disappears and is presumed destroyed.

-Cerberus organise a massive Forum with representatives from several of the supernatural races. Though plagued with problems and even some death and one case of banishment from time and space for a hundred years, the Forum is something of a success.

-Cerberus covertly contacts Michael Moser Lang, a political dissident on Earth, and provides him with funding to purchase weapons. Cerberus continues to monitor him after contact ends. One year later, Lang assassinates United North American States president Enrique Aguilar and Chinese People's Federation premier Ying Xiong, two Seer pawns. The resulting political shuffle benefits Cerberus' shell companies and plans for the Systems Alliance Parliament.

-Alice and Elizabeth escape their Keeper and traverse the Edge at Auschwitz.

**2176 CE**

-Batarian-funded pirates and criminals launch a surprise attack, later known as the Skyllian Blitz, on the human colony of Elysium. The assault is repulsed by the Alliance Navy and ground teams, officially. Rumors of blood drinking humanoid monsters tearing the pirates into pieces are considered fabulation by the System Alliance at best and baseless accusation at worse.

-The Mega-Hauler ship is reported destroyed by the PESA as it was doing his trial run around Elysium at the moment of the attack. T

-he cruiser _Atlantis_, based on the iconic ship because the Free Council was responsible for most of the construction, see its first combat against batarian ships.

-Solomon leave the Perfected Adept legacy temple and join the crew of the Atlantis. There, he met Raven and Lilith.

-Rumors of a ghost ship with long range laser weaponry and an impenetrable armor hunting batarian and slavers ship start to pop up. The STG, asari commandos and Spectres do investigate the rumor, but the sheer outlandishness of it combined with its supposed ability to disappear and zone of action, the batarian territory and human frontier, make all investigations short and inconclusive.

-The Jon Grissom Academy is commissioned over Elysium, and becomes home to the Alliance's new biotic training program, the Ascension Project.

-The Anhur Rebellions, a civil war waged over the practice of slavery, begin on the human and batarian colony world of Anhur and spread throughout the Amun system. Abolitionism supporters hire the Eclipse mercenary group to fight the batarian pro-slavery Na'hesit faction with the help of Cerberus funding.

-James Vega enlists in the Alliance military.

-Kai Leng is awarded the N7 designation by the Alliance's Interplanetary Combatives Academy, but later that year he is dishonorably discharged and imprisoned for first-degree murder.

-Miners at the T-GES Mineral Works facility on Mahavid uncover a Leviathan artifact. The miners are enthralled by the Leviathans for the next ten years and are used to carry out numerous experiments.

**2177 CE**

-During a recon mission to find a missing colonial pioneer team on Akuze, a unit of fifty Alliance marines is wiped out by thresher maws.

-Lilith find the shell of the _Revenge _inside an iceberg in the North pole.

**2178 CE**

-In retaliation for the Skyllian Blitz, the Alliance launches a major offensive against the moon of Torfan and destroys the criminal bases there, mostly populated by batarians. The threat against human colonies from batarian extremists is curtailed.

-The Atlantis is spotted by several System Alliance ships around Torfan, along with the destroyed shell of several heavy cruisers. No visual or electronic record can confirm this rumor.

-Cerberus tracks several pirate FTL exit vectors over a period of six months using covert monitoring devices planted on Theshaca's moons, leading the Atlantis to eight major pirate anchorages. Since the "Theshaca Raids", no ships from the Terminus Systems have entered the Hong system.

-The Anhur Rebellions end with the abolitionist forces in power, and the reconstruction of Anhur commences. The Orders establish a strong presence on the colony, financing most of the rebuilding and working to elevate Anhur as a new trade point and spaceport.

**2180 CE**

Solomon, Alice, Elizabeth, Raven and Lilith get together as the crew of the Firefly.

**2183 CE**

-Humans and turians collaborate on an engineering project co-sponsored by the Citadel Council: an experimental frigate with a prototype stealth system, the SSV Normandy. David Anderson is given command of the ship, and Commander Shepard is assigned as executive officer.

-The events of Mass Effect: He Who Laughs Best occur**.** Jeff "Joker" Moreau is assigned as the pilot of the SSV Normandy.


	2. Chapter 1

Okay, so this chapter isn't entirely written in the dark and tense style. I couldn't have done that without for all the serie without adding the angst tag. Also, this chapter present the main character in first person with and also has a quite large exposition dump in order to set some bases about the univers. I'm not sure if I should rather leave things unexplained or not in this story so your opinion would help.

Martenzo, you got it right.

Thanks to DeathAdder 47117 for the spell checking.

Review in bad or good.

* * *

**Chapter one:** Secrets and living fairy tales_ part 1 _

**Citadel. Presidium. Executor Venari Pallin's office.**

"Lock the door."

The Executor pressed a key on his keyboard, sealing the entire room.

"Are you sure this will be enough?" The voice snapped.

"Nihlus, even the STG would have a hard time breaking inside now."

The Spectre stopped his inspection of the office, turning his gaze toward the other turian sitting behind his desk.

"It is not the salarians I am worried about and you know it." He made his way to the previously mentioned desk, stopping in front of it. "Even they leave more traces of their presence than those people and they do not walk around with swords." There was an anger in those last words but not directed toward the Executor.

"You think I don't know that by now. It has been less than six months since you brought those 'facts' to me, ordering me to investigate those superstitions."

Nihlus clenched fist smashed against the polished surface of the desk.

"Those are not superstitions, lies, hallucinations or tricks!" There was a cold rage in his voice.

"I know dammit! And you know that!" Pallin wasn't going to let himself be intimidated in his own office, not even by a Spectre.

Slowly, Nihlus relaxed the tension of his hand and sat on the chair facing the Executor and his desk.

"You're right, excuse me." He sighed, this thing was grinding on his nerves more than a solitary assault against the entire Geth fleet would have. "What did you found?"

It was Pallin turn to sigh. "Too much and not enough."

On the holographic screen of his computer, the head of C-Sec brought forth many dossier and pictures that anyone would have declared fake the moment they would have seen them.

"Helena Blake" The picture of a young woman with brown eyes, dark hair, a fine visage and a slender silhouette appeared. "She was a waitress in one of the Ward's clubs for the public and the right hand of a cartel in private. Two years ago, she was found almost dead after a C-Sec drug bust that turned bad."

"What kind of drug?"

"Red Sand. What's important though is that she took six rounds to the chest before going down and had still enough strength left to insult the officers all the way to the hospital." Another picture of Helena came up, this time showing the massive wounds she had suffered. "That was how she was when they brought her in, this one was two hours after and the last picture of her we have." The next photo was of a hospital security cam, taken as Helena excited a service door, accompanied by a blurry figure.

"Jamming?"

"I talked to some friends in the STG, none they could find. Anyway, what you're looking for are the girl wounds"

The Helena on the image was barely dressed, as if she had jumped straight out of the operation table. Her jaws and neck were covered by blood but it was clearly not hers even though it was fresh. As for her injuries, rather than the life threatening thing they should have been, they were but faint red marks on her skin.

"And that is not the most troubling."

The Spectre raised what passes as an eyebrow at the Executor claim. Another image was brought forth. This time though, rather than another camera frame, it was some sort of rectangular card with a picture and information in a language Nihlus didn't know of. The picture was the troubling thing, the person on it didn't slightly resemble Helena, the person didn't resemble Helena greatly, no, the person on the photo was Helena Blake.

"This is a human 'driving license' produced in 2001. Which would mean..."

"That this human is one hundred and eighty-two years old. Which is, in all logic, impossible. That is, unless the humans have managed to hide the fact that some of their members can actually live to what looks like many centuries without aging and recover from wounds at the same rate a krogan can."

"Which I doubt they would. But even if they had and we could provide proof, this would be dismissed by anyone as pure insanity."

"Don't I know it." The bitterness in the Spectre voice was sharp and rash.

"The next one happened eight month ago." The whole Lucia document disappeared, replaced by the image of an asari corpse on an autopsy table. There was no apparent wounds on this one, well, unless flowers coming out of a bloody mouth, eyes and ears count as wounds.

"If you read the official report, you will learn that she died by suffocation and that then the killer stuffed her with flowers. More precisely, a human flower called..." He looked at the screen. "A rose."

"And if I read the other report?"

"Then you'll learn that the flower grew directly from her lungs, that the salarian medical examiner suffered a severe mental breakdown since he got the job a year ago and that the body dropped out of the records soon after."

"Falsification from the examiner?"

"Highly unlikely, he was on Sur'Kesh at the time."

"Which left us with?"

"The word of a mentally unstable salarian and a single picture."

"Of course, as usual."

For the third time, the computer screen's content was swiped away for another set of pictures to take its place. This time, it was a scene that looked like some kind of horror movie, evil invocation with the mangled bodies of several turians, asari, krogan, and even a volus, scattered around a room marked with strange and incomprehensible runes.

"We found them three weeks ago, piled up in in the basement of a morgue. Somewhere in there is also the body a human, an assistant to the morgue and the only one who died around that day."

"Around that day?"

"All the bodies you see have all been dead for some time, but not of the wounds, which are in order of importance; edge weapon, heat, fire, bashing and molecular bond disintegration."

"Heat and molecular bond disintegration?"

"Yes, heat as in laser and disintegration as someone apparently severed the links between the atoms composing the bodies of some of the corpses."

"So someone is walking around with a DEW and another weapon that can break molecules apart without all the scanners of the Citadel blowing off."

"Apparently." The two turians shared a look of extreme tiredness where strain and unnamed fear mixed together.

"You said they had been dead for some time. What do you meant?"

On the holographic screen, several videos popped up. They showed various crowded places on the Citadel and, amongst those crowds, groups of people had been isolated by a software. Those people corresponded exactly to the mangled corpses of the morgue.

"Some died months ago, others only a couple of days but none were killed on the scene. Worse, some were killed and then those videos of them were taken. I saw a report of those dead, pictures of their autopsy and there is no way they could be walking around. The worse is that when the corpse age was measured, the results were everywhere. Some which had reports indicating they had died two weeks ago seemed to have only aged two days while others who died a day ago where almost completely decomposed."

"You presented this to the Council?"

"Do I have a straitjacket on me?"

"Of course. And the runes?"

"They disappeared soon after."

The Spectre had another deep sigh as he put his face in his hands.

"This is madness."

"No, this is only, what do humans call it, the tip of the iceberg. There are probably thousands of incidents we are missing. Things the officers have edited out of their reports because of how insane it sounded, things 'they' hide, things nobody ever found, etc."

"You're right. It's the same thing everywhere I went. In fact, for the few I went to, human words are even worse. It is as if everyone knew about them but refuse to talk or even consider it."

"It's also recent. There has been some odd case before and stupid urban legends before, but nothing like now."

A questioned look appeared on Nihlus' face as he recognized where this was going.

"Already accusing the humans Venari, how very Saren like of you."

"I have nothing personal against humanity Nihlus and you know it. But you said it yourself, it is more pronounced on human worlds. Those things I just showed you, they all happened in a human heavy zone. I am merely citing facts and I think you too believe the human have something to do with it. After all, you did propose a human Spectre didn't you? And I know you never do anything without a reason."

The turian Spectre shrugged.

"I had already planned to sponsor a human Spectre long ago. The current situation only gives me more reasons to do so. Maybe I will be able to learn something about this with them around and talking more openly."

"Yes. This Shepard, you think she's involved with this whole mess?"

"Who knows? But even if she isn't, there is another I want to find."

"Who?"

"The video that has hit the Extranet this morning, one of my contacts has identified the asari on the video. If she has seen the other person, I might finally have found a way into this mystery."

"Hmm." The Executor pondered with the idea for a second. "I hope you know what you're doing Nihlus. I don't know what this is, genetic engineering, some kind of human Ardat-Yakshi or something else entirely, but this thing is dangerous."

The Spectre rose from his chair, the shadow of a smile on his face.

"Thanks. You too be careful, old friend."

With those last words, Nihlus left the Executor's office. Pallin, now alone, pressed another key on his keypad, releasing the lockdown on the room. Shifting his mind back to the matters at hand, he began to scroll down the list of mail he had received during his conversation.

* * *

In a world of grayish light and dark, the half erased form of a batarian was standing behind the Executor. He had no idea where he precisely was, or who those around him were. What he knew was that the master wanted him to hear all what those two forms were saying when alone together and then he wanted them to be repeated to them perfectly. Slowly, the batarian Shade without a name began to make its way back to the master, endlessly repeating the conversation he had just heard until ordered otherwise.

* * *

Codex Entry

Mindoir incident

The events surrounding the batarian slavers raid on Mindoir are still highly debated. What is known for sure is that a force of one batarian heavy frigate and several corvettes entered the system. Quickly, they destroyed all means of extra-system communications and began their approach on the colony's main settlement. It is here that the event became debated. The few surviving records of the initial ships descent show that thick dark clouds began to form over the colony at an astonishing rate, covering the slaver's fleet. On the surface, a heavy rain was filmed by some malfunctioning cameras. Their optics had been damaged as they registered the rain as being blood red. There are even fewer records of the slavers on the ground of the planet as most recording devices skipped some time due to the batarian slaver's jamming device though some conspirationists have claimed that the videos have been erased. The reason of those claims is due to the blurred images captured by the surviving cams of what looks like to be a humanoid figure fighting batarians with a short sword and a rectangular shield at inhuman speed. Then, after a mere ten hours, the batarian fleet apparently took off without having touched the colony and leaving behind them a massive cross of fused skulls reaching ten meters high. The colonists interrogated after the event by a System Alliance agent reportedly didn't notice anything and appeared surprised at the news that a batarian fleet had come into orbit, saying that apart from bad nightmares, the day hadn't felt different from the last at all. The fleet was discovered latter, floating in the edge of a batarian system, completely empty of life. The only ship missing was the batarian heavy frigate. As of now, it has become a sort of ghost ship legend haunting the Traverse and praying on batarian slaver ships. Most probably, it is the act of some other slavers using this legend at their advantage.

* * *

**Corvette class ship. Firefly. Currently at bay at the Citadel.**

I woke up to the sound of a soft piano tune, a man talking about sailors dancing under a red night sky and the smell of steaming coffee. The room I could see through my half open eyes would have been described as odd on many planets, but considering I was inside a spaceship, it was a downright out of place setting. Rather than the usual flawless metal walls with the abstract line of color, here they, the walls, were covered with dark brown aged wood left mostly bare except for some hand drawings and a couple of weapons stuck to it. None looked to be under hundred years old; in fact, most were either edge weapons or seemed to be from another reality. The bed I was in was also odd, having a wooden frame with atlantean symbols carved over most of its surface. Down, the floor eschewed the bare metal everyone seemed to like so much in favor of a heavy black carpet with scattered clothes on it. The clothes followed the trend set by the rest of the room, made with a mix of fabrics that were modern but looked out of time. Supporting personal modifications like the raven's feathers on the black short skirt, the red stones weaved at chest height on the dark blue shirt, the small golden wings sewed on the overcoat collar or other things that would have been impossible with the classic modern synthetic latex suit that everyone seemed to like. That wasn't to say the room was free of modern technologies, the omni-tools and computer on the desk in the corner were proofs of that. Okay, they had had spirits bound to them, were linked to space to a massive network that transited instantaneously everywhere in the universe, were immune to any form of simple technological hacking and could even be described as sentient in some way but hey, still technologies right. They broke most of the laws of the universe and the Citadel, but then, the laws of the Fallen world are rarely respected by us. Too constraining for our taste and all.

Anyway, back to the point. I extracted myself from the arms of our pilot, who answer to the name of, respectively; Raven, Corvina, which actually isn't the feminine version of corvo, Supergirl, The best pilot in all the universes, with an emphasis on the plural, Goddess and many other bombastic titles, or, if you feel suicidal, Branwen. She had half black, half blue hair that ended just above her hips, a slightly toned skin, black eyes like the darkess of night, a wing tatoo that covered most of her back and some of her upper arm and a slender build that made me think of a fragile bird. Of course, would I dare say that to her in public, I'm pretty sure she would try to ram me with the ship at FTL speed. Silently, I put on a pair of pants and a white cotton shirt, grabbed my omni-tool which I had integrated into a steampunk style bracelet - placing the micro-computed between copper gears and spirits sympathetic precious stones had been a pain in the ass - and left the room.

The door slid back behind me as I entered the corridor between the common room and the engine. Turning right, I walked in the direction of the coffee smell, the kitchen and our cook/medic. There, in the middle of our kitchen, was standing a Changeling. She was smiling over the cooking stove and the eggs inside, revealing her pointed teeth. The hand that held said stove was thin, almost to the bone, like the rest of her short body. More unnerving for those unfamiliar with the inherent weirdness of the supernatural 'life' was the unsettling glimmer in her eyes and her pointed ears. By the way, calling her pointy ears is tantamount to drinking poison. Something that is a real possible end for you after that comment.

"Hey, bon matin Elizabeth."

"Bonsoir Solomon."

"Oh."

"Oui. Bien que ce soit compréhensible vue comment vous nous avez garder éveillé que tu puisse penser ca."

Two other little things about Elizabeth. First, she was french, no shit. Second, she was taken by the True Fae with her little sister in 1943 on her way to Auschwitz showers. The history after that is long and complicated but, in short, they both got out three years ago and after much convoluted shenanigans, they ended up with us. Funny detail, though Elizabeth is the older sister, the faerie's Arcadia follow its own rules, especially concerning time, and as such, the older sister had the body of an eighteen year old while her little sister, Alice, had the body of a nineteen year old. Funny considering that when they entered, if Elizabeth was eighteen, Alice was ten. But again, I digress.

Head bowed, I approached the authentic 1940's coffee maker filled with the divine hot liquid, snatched a mug from the walled cupboard, grabbed the handle of the coffee container and... stopped.

"Wait. Why are you making coffee and eggs if we are in the evening?"

She smiled. It was both scary and mischievous. "Because you did keep us awake a little. Also you left muddy footprint on the entrance."

"Sorry, sorry. But you know it's not my fault if I'm so g... muddy footprint?"

"Yes. The captain hasn't seen them yet. Maybe you should hurry…"

She hadn't finished her sentence that I was already running away. Captain, cap, Ma'am, sometimes Bitch queen and more often simply Lilith, is a really good captain. She is also hyper strict when it come to the cleanness of anything outside our room in the ship and I don't want to have to polish the entire hull. I must have spent half an hour searching for both the mug marks and the cleaning materials which seemed to have mysteriously disappeared before realising something. When I came back, the rest of the crew was sitting around the table.

There was Raven in her undies and camisole, black, over a, - my - fuming mug. At her right was Lilith, our glorious and most magnificent captain. Seriously, must be careful what you think about her around her, she can read my thoughts. Though, I doubt she does it all the time. After all, I can be invisible and I don't do it all the time. Anyway, she was a six-foot tall blond valkyrie from the ancient land of Norway, or Germany, or somewhere, she never said. She wore a vine colored shirt, beige pants held by military suspenders and belt and a pair of black hobnailed jackboots. Hanging at her left side was a holster filled by a colt walker, a platonic exemplar I could feel buzzing with magic even at a distance. Beside her, on her right side, was Elizabeth in the green overalls and pure white apron she wore every time she either cooked or healed. Last was Alice. Alice was, well quite frankly she was an otherworldly beauty in all the sense of the term. Her skin was of an ethereal white, pure and flawless. Contrasting with it was her blood red lips, her black raven hair falling down her shoulder and her grand bright green eyes that seemed to gaze at your soul. Right now she was wearing black and white striped stockings, knee-high black boots, a skirt short in the front and long in the back, a white corset, a short black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up and a red rose necklace.

They were all eating the slightly bluish eggs and orange tainted bacon. Oh, I don't mean they were bad or rotten, simply all food cooked by Elizabeth, however good it was, always had a slight color weirdness to it. The best chicken I ever ate was fuschia and I can also say that I know now what blue milk taste like, it taste like milk. After having taken my things and my part, I sat beside Raven.

"Hey, where were you?" I translated here because she said that with half a bagel in her mouth.

"Was looking for a mop before I realized there is no mud on the Citadel"

From the other side of the table I saw another pointed smile. Well you just wait. Or maybe not because next time I get injured I don't want my doctor to have a grudge against me. She had not sweared the hippocratic oath after all. Had she even heard about it, I wasn't sure.

"Solomon." Lilith tone was seemingly uninterested but I knew better. "Care to explain why you went all Kane yesterday?"

Oh yeah, of course she wasn't going to let that little incident pass.

"Well, for starters, I would like to precise it wasn't my fault as I, at no moment, planned to have this encounter."

"Go on."

"It all began as I was waiting for Raven at a club bar and that asari approached me."

"Which asari? The one you then proceeded to save valiant knight style?" That was Corvina who spoke. With most girls, I would have had to deal with some kind of jealousy or insecurity. When you were talking about a were-raven, things were a little different. "You know, if I wasn't so sure of how sexy I am I could feel a little threatened."

"And if I wasn't sure that you would tear to shreds any compliment I offer, I would say that you are the most beautiful girl in the universe."

"Aww, that was such a sweet lie."

And by different I mean that she's a hard boiled cynic and that translated as all the innocent lies that are told were mercilessly eviscerated every time she felt like it. Though, contrary to what it might look like, she actually had no problem about it and could be a real minx when she wanted to.

"Uh huh." Lilith shook her head. "Back to the point please."

"Oh, yeah, right. So, the asari left after I read her omni-tool, I tried to finish my drink but it started to boil a little before clinging to the left side of the glass."

Nobody commended, that was simply the kind of thing that happened.

"I was curious as to what was happening so I followed my instinct and ended up in the bathroom."

Elizabeth let out a little snicker, Alice turned her head but I'm pretty sure I saw a hidden smile, Lilith had no reaction and Raven grinned.

"You sure you followed your instinct? Because to me it looks like you followed something lower."

I ignored the comment, that was the best thing to do. "Anyway, inside there was some kind of spirit. I don't know if it was the body-snatcher kind or if it was trying to bring the girl into the Shadow but it was definitely doing something."

"And so you drew sword and gun and attacked the creature." Lilith continued. "In front of a camera."

"Hey, to my defense I am usually invisible to all electronics. Also, I am surprised this camera didn't fry up during the fight."

"Hmm, me too actually." She was a little too serious for a simple reprimand.

"You think there is something else going on?"

"Maybe. As you said, you are invisible to anything electronic. For something to even partially capture your image and the one of a spirit, I doubt it was completely normal."

Raven swallowed her eggs. "So what, hunters?"

"Possible. In any case, we leave tomorrow so everyone try to stay out of trouble."

Alice's voice had a light british accent, no idea why or how. "So soon? We have three days left before reaching the limit."

"Yes but I got a call from Eden Prime for a job."

"Where is that?"

"A colony in the Utopia system, Exodus cluster. There is a Prothean beacon there and a cabal wants it."

"I suppose the local powers won't let that happen"

"Probably not without at least some complaint. With luck the Free Council won't have to burn it down by the time we get there."

* * *

There was a lot of hate from the Free Council toward the Prothean devices in general, or anything eezo based really, the kind of hate which leaded to major breakthrough in laser technology in order to destroy them. I'm pretty sure they have stored a giant laser or two somewhere in the Twilight powerful enough to melt a Mass relay or transform the Citadel into scrap metal. Shame nothing of it could be showed to the galaxy, only slowly leaked to.

* * *

"So if you have anything left to do here, better do it quickly."

"Dommage. Je commencais vraiment à aimer les rèves de Sha'ira." Alice murmured.

Breakfast was over quickly after that.

* * *

We never stayed for a long time anywhere, a week being our max. This wasn't because of anything money or permission related, simply an effect of owning a ship like ours. I'll come back on that later. At least, it meant that we were always seeing new things, meeting new people. As a result, we have quite a few friends everywhere. We also had a lot of enemies everywhere but that's beside the point. Anyway, I found myself back in my room gearing up.

* * *

First was my ring. Well, maybe not because I was already wearing it. The ring was a gift from Lilith after I was mind controlled on an asteroid by the ghost of some long dead alien species and tried to eat her eyes. Hmm, maybe it wasn't a gift in fact. Anyway, the ring was imbued with a mind protection spell and it was one of the few things I never take off, even for sleeping.

Second there were my clothes. A pair of dark grey pants, brown lucky leather boots, and I mean real enchanted boots of luck here, a white shirt, a black vest onto which I pinned my pentagram badge, a nice little thing which made me invisible to electronics and gave me a master Force shield, then a dark blue overcoat I left unbuttoned and which ended a little over my ankles. The little wings on the collar were a gift from a werewolf pack I had helped a long time ago, a way to never make a sound from a fall three times a day, didn't protect me from the impact but still. Over my arms were brown brassards given to me by an Adamantine Arrow guy with a worrying obsession on the Assassin's Creed series. Sincerely, they should have stopped after the twentieth, after that the series really went downhill. Anyhow, maybe I shouldn't complain. After all, how many people can say they have monomolecular hidden blades and a coil operated micro grapnel launcher strapped around their wrist? Next were my gloves. Of a black material, I weaved it with wires of Orichalcum and Kypris, perfected gold and copper, into atlantean runes of heat, light, sounds, fire and electricity. Useful in many circumstances, trust me. Last was the red scarf I wore. Crafted with Hedgespun, it was a gift from Alice. I don't know what it look like to Sleepers, but to me it was like I was wearing a living flame around my neck.

About my clothes, as I said earlier they only look out of place. The result of another crazy mix of supernatural and science by the Free Council, those clothes were the equivalent of a light hardsuit, just without the hazard protection but also without looking like a damn hardsuit. And to continue on the tech vein, I wear lenses connected to my omni-tool so that when I use it, it doesn't send a big orange flare to my enemies saying: Hey! I'm using my omni-tool!

Third were my weapons. My pistol was, like almost everything I owned, out of place in this time. The curved wood handle with copper ornaments, the slightly triangular undebarrel compartment holding the magazine, the round siderite canon containing the focusing mirrors, the hammer and back containing the heat converter, it made the pistol look more like a steampunk revolver but without a revolving barrel. Which was good because how else do you want you're laser pistol to look like? I slid the holster on my right side, its weight a comforting feeling. My sword though, I don't think that even if I were to use it for a thousand years I would ever found her weight or sight comforting. _Shadow and Light_ it was called, an artefact of infamy. It is a long, slender, slightly curved ending in a delicate point blade made of a whitish-gold metal. It reflects everything with a perfect metallic sheen, though, look too deeply into your reflection and you will only see two dead and soulless eyes. The hilt is wrapped in matte black wires while the guard and spherical and small pommel are of the same substance as the blade. The edge never dulled or showed sign of usage even though the blade was several millennia old. More impressive, even today it sliced through hardsuits like as if they were nothing but paper, inflicting wounds way beyond those of a normal blade. If that wasn't enough, the magic permeating the artefact was amongst the most vicious I've ever saw. Each time the blade would dig into flesh, be it the incorporeal one of a ghost, the essence of a spirit or the material one of a Fallen world creature, it would leach a part of its vital energy and transfer it to me. It was an exhilarating feeling each time, as if adrenaline was suddenly pumped directly into my system. And that was the trap. Mana and Will would never make me default as long as I would continue to hurt others, a very tempting possibility. I tried to restrict myself to ghosts and spirits or animals but sometimes, way more than I would like, I am forced to fight a sentient creature. The saying 'power corrupts' has always been very fitting to a mage and this artefact was one of the reasons why. One day, I fear that I will fall to the same trap the previous wielder of _Shadow and Light_ have, driven drunk by the power of the sword, killing all in order to satisfy my addiction. I suppose those who entrusted it to me had reasoning along the line of; let's get this damned thing away from us by giving it to a wandering mage. He will kill a couple of spirits, become mad far away from us, get himself killed and then we'll simply give the artefact to another drifter.

"You won't." Raven's voice behind me made me jump in surprise. "At least not now."

I turned around toward the sneaking girl. She too was now dressed, sporting black knee boots slightly covered by her brown short and tiny black skirt. A sombre blue, almost dark purple, waist corset over a red shirt with bishop sleeves. The shirt's back had two long cut revealing parts of her wings tattoo while on her skirt numerous black feathers and onyx pearls had been weaved into the clothing. The finishing touch was the necklace around her neck depicting a lunargent raven and an orichalcum eagle dancing around in a circle.

"What?"

She wrapped her arms around my chest. "Every time you pick up your sword, you get all angsty and depressed about how bad and evil you could turn. That's bad because that's supposed to be my thing."

"Hmm. I never saw you like that."

"That's because I don't like playing stereotypes."

"So Corvians aren't obsessed with dark clothes?"

She pinched me. "Okay, I don't act the stereotypes I don't like."

Gently, she took the sheathed sword from my hands and began attaching it to my belt.

"Anyway, you are too much of a stand-up guy to fall for that kind of stupidity. And if you ever where to, I would poison you in your sleep." Her tone was one of dark humour but was nonetheless completely honest.

I grinned. "Glad to see you have my back."

"Your welcome." She tightened the belt. "Well now that you are all geared up, you're gonna have my and Alice's back."

I let my hands slid down her hips. "And how am I supposed to interpret that?"

She tightened my belt a second time, not nicely. "Not with that part of your body you contrived idiot." Though she was smilling.

She took a step back. "You are our designated bodyguard for today."

"Really? So anything you two cannot turn insane, freeze under a blizzard or shred into pieces, I am supposed to take care of?"

"Hey, I'm not the all-powerful boasting mage here. Or did you drag me into your bed with lies?"

She pouted, arms crossed on her chest.

"Raven, I lost the illusion I had any control over you a long time ago."

And back was the cynical smile. "Then you're an idiot."

"Isn't that why you really are with me?"

She laughed. Her laugh could tear someone's self into pieces or make people mad. There, to me, it was warm and honest.

"Yes, I remember now." She kissed me. "Among other things."

And with that, she led me out of our room and into the Citadel.

* * *

Order Codex

Element Zero

The Free Council has an official position on element zero which can be summarized as: Fuck eezo. When element zero was discovered after the decyphiring of the Mars ruins, the Free Council was mostly enthusiastic about eezo. A new branch of science and technology was opened to humanity and even if the Free Council philosophy was a theoricaly at odds with eezo, element zero being an old technology by galactic standard, many were eager to magically experiment with it. Two things quickly killed that eagerness. First, eezo in itself is as reactive as any mundane material to magic. In fact, it's on par with wood or gravel. This in itself wasn't that big of a deal for the Free Council. The second thing though was a real deal-braker. A couple of Mysterium mages talented in the Time arcana began to study the Prothean ruins. Thus, leading to the discovery of said Prothean and of how they were wipped out. Then the mages went back further and saw the same thing happening, only with a different race. Seeing element zero as the death bait it was, the Free Council and mages in general began to reject its use in favor of different technologies. A thing made difficult by the shift of human technology so as to have eezo as its main pillar. The mage Daneel Olivaw, an imminent scientist, respected member of the Free Council and a particularly vocal hater of element zero, quote: "They have their dammed Phlebonium, we have ours, we'll see who's left standing after the Reapers come for their stupid cycle."

Order Codex

Portable Direct Energy Weapon

The feat that is the development of portable DEW was accomplished by a cabal of mixed Adamantine Arrow and Free Council members, _PulseLight_, who spend thirty five years, condensed into five with Time magic, searching for a way to transform Guardian lasers from turret to man portable. With magic and science combined, they accomplished much more than what was expected. After having successfully miniaturized the Guardian laser focal arrays and mirrors system to the size of a firearm, the simplest part, they began working on the power problem. Using Kypris, they successfully built a battery the size of a magazine with enough power to generate several military level laser shots. Once linked to the miniaturized Guardian system, it was effectively a portable laser gun. Though, of course, there was still the heat problem and the team had had to get rid of the heat sink in order to reduce the system. This was the team's only defeat as the only solution they found was to build a system so that the humongous heat build-up was forced through an enchanted element that converted the heat into electricity for the system. It is still a gigantic improvement over the previous magic based laser weapon which required around ten spells to work. Once out of the time bubble, the cabal began selling the blueprint of the weapon. As a result, some highly specialized mages have established themselves as renound gunsmiths who, like the ones of old, offer extremely personalized weapons to those who can buy them. A cheaper version has also been developed with the conversion spell replaced by a fixed temperature mini heat sink, reducing the number of shots possible with each magazine/battery. Losing a DEW weapon to a Sleeper is a severe crime.

Order Codex

Kypris

Perfected copper, Kypris has a rich green colour and like its brethren tends to catch and hold the light, making it glow with an ocean-like depth. It is chemically inert, and can be drawn into wires and beaten into leaf. But most importantly, it offers up absolutely no electrical resistance whatsoever. Even when it is melted down, the electrons are led through its substance without a single joule being converted to heat.

* * *

"Hey, bon matin Elizabeth." - "Hey, good morning Elizabeth."

"Bonsoir Solomon." "Good evening Solomon."

"Oh."

"Oui. Bien que ce soit compréhensible vue comment vous nous avez garder éveillé que tu puisse penser ca." "Yes. Though seeing how you two kept us awake, I understand how you might think that."

"Dommage. Je commencais vraiment à aimer les rèves de Sha'ira." Alice murmured.

"Too bad, I was really starting to like Sha'ira's dreams."


	3. Chapter 2: The Citadel

So, I am still trying to find all of my bearing regarding the story and the characters, especially their personality and the tone of the story. In a chapter or two I should have it nailed down but for now I found the text a little too rought for my tastes. That's what you get anyway. In this chapter, I am mainly concerned about setting the base of the universe at large and I'm experimenting with two method: In story explanations and codex. Let me know which one you think is best.

CelticReaper: Okay.

deadal: Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I had forgot how awful this translation is.

Thanks to DeathAdder 47117 for the spell checking

_Atlantean_

**Spirit Tongue**

* * *

**Chapter one:** Secrets and living fairy tales_ part 2 _

_Citadel Day_

**Presidium**

"Please. I... don't know what to say more."

"Any details are important."

"But really, I don't remember much. His face was hidden by a hood and the only thing I remember are his red eyes."

Nihlus sighed. He had tracked down the asari to her workplace and used his authority as a spectre to interrogate her. Unfortunately, she had had not much to say. At first, he had suspected that she was holding information due to some threat or intimidation but as he continued to press her he had to come to the disappointing conclusion that she really didn't know anything more than the color of his eyes, that he was a user of the human drug tobacco and had a sword.

"I'm sorry."

The asari looked stressed, understandably so. Being interrogated by a spectre, someone who could shoot you at a whim without consequence, often had this effect. At least with a Justicar you had some sort of idea if she was gonna kill or not.

"No need to. You have been very helpful."

The Spectre rose from his chair and, after a last nod toward Manira, left the Citadel News Presidium office.

Really this thing had been way less useful that he had initially thought. That said, the number of humans smoking tobacco is not that high, maybe a search through the Citadel camera. No, if his image on the vid was any indication, they had already either people working on the inside at erasing them or had implanted a virus inside the system and Nihlus knew he hadn't the skill to find it if even C-Sec E-Crimes division had not found out about it already. Tracking the smell of tobacco was also a pointless endeavour, between all the other human who make use of it, the billions of odours in the Citadel and the lack of electrical noses. The Spectre climbed in his personal shuttle, he had bought one after having killed a Terminus crime-lord by sabotaging an automatic skycar on Illium. Once again he was without lead, same as after the debacle on Omega and its ring of crazy junkies, the dead human puppets on Bekenstein or the monolith cult on Euntanta.

Nihlus was revising all of those failures in his head when his omni-tool biped. The sudden message was slightly surprising; the content even more so because he was pretty certain that he had never booked an appointment with the Matriarch. Apparently his appointment had been paid for, booked half a year ago and was in half an hour. Well, he had seen complicated setup for a meeting but that had to be the most unpractical yet. Really, half a year? You'd have to be either a seer or a madman to plan meetings like that. Either way, he wanted to see it.

* * *

He walked up to the asari receptionist.

"Madam."

"Yes?"

"Nihlus Kryik. I apparently have an appointment with the Consort."

Nelyna looked down at her holographic screen for a second before raising her head, smiling.

"Yes." She pressed a touch on the floating keyboard and almost immediately a human woman walked up the stair. "If you would please follow Janira."

He walked through the lounge toward the Consort's chamber, pondering. Nihlus had never really thought about the Consort. True, she was the keeper of many secrets but since she had based her reputation on keeping them, actually, secret she probably wouldn't be convinced by bribes or intimidation. Not mentioning the many people who would protect her and thus their secrets. As for her other talents, a talk or a good fuck had never really been that high on his priority list. Though, there had been rumors of her making predictions. A couple of months ago, he wouldn't even have entertain the idea as a joke, now, well.

The door opened, revealing the chamber proper and the famous Consort sat on a long sofa. She rose from her place when Nihlus and the human entered.

"Sha'ira, Nihlus Kryik is here." The girl said, slightly bowing.

"Thank you Janira."

The girl retreated and the door closed behind the turian. Now they were alone.

The asari matriarch advanced with all the sensuality that had made her reputation.

"I must admit that I am a little surprised, Spectre. I didn't expect someone like you to come to me."

She paused for a second. "Actually, I don't think you do too."

"Hmm, true. I don't suppose you know who booked this appointment for me?"

"Unfortunately not. But I am certain it was for a reason."

Yes, though usually it's because they want to kill him. Slowly, Nihlus began to walk around the room, looking for any sign of ambush. The Consort, herself, simply sat back on her couch and watched him prow around her.

"You look troubled, more so than is expected from a Spectre."

"Thank you, but I don't need counselling to see that."

"Obviously. Though you do need someone to talk to."

Her voice was warm and invited him to confess. He finished his walk, not having detected anything suspicious, eyeing the sofa. Well, why not. After all, she could hardly have him interned. He sat down.

"Okay, I'll bite. What am I supposed to talk about?"

She smiled. "Whatever is grudging your mind."

Nihlus sighed. Really it wasn't at all like him. This whole atmosphere and Sha'ira attitude was definitely off putting.

"Well, there is this lingering sense of horror accompanied by a feeling of dread at my own ignorance that has been bothering me for some time."

"As a Spectre, I suppose horror is not something you are a stranger with. Why now feeling dread?"

"Because before I could always explain horror. Gang message, insanity, psychopaths, they all commit murder for explainable reasons. They would butcher corpses, leave parts around the house of their enemies and, though sometime it wasn't evident, there was always some sort of sense behind it. Now, I see horrors happening, impossible horrors, that seem to have no reason at all. No, wait. They do have a reason; simply, just the fact of considering it is too mad and horrifying to do so."

During his speech, the Consort had skid to his side and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Sha'ira." He turned his head toward her, his face not troubled or looking for support but hard as stone and with a deadly gaze.

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in the supernatural?"

Immediately, she retracted her hand. That, Nihlus had expected it, what he hadn't expected was the expression she displayed. It wasn't the slightly condescending look with the half smile preceding the talk about how supernatural things are nothing but old superstitions and nonsense. Rather, it was a mix of understanding concern and doubt. The Spectre jumped from his seat.

"What do you know? Who set this up?"

It was the asari turn to sigh.

"Calm down Spectre. I do not know anything for certain." She made an appeasing gesture but the trouble was still in her eyes. "I have lived a long life and have seen many things in all of my years. Some truly strange and defying logic at first glance. When I settled down here I was certain that I had seen more than most. But recently, I am not so sure anymore."

"And since when have you felt that?"

"I am sure you already know."

"The humans." Always them, it seems he could avoid them anymore no matter how much he tried.

"Yes. Though I doubt they are directly responsible."

"How so?"

"This feeling of dread, of being hunted, that shadows are deeper, that eyes from the darkness watch your every step. If they really had any control or conscious knowledge about it, do you really think their bittern of ambassador could resist the temptation to brag about it?"

Ah, yes, Udina. The leading theories between the other ambassadors was either that putting Udina in its role had been a revenge against the Council for its lack of actions against the batarians or the only way the System Alliance had found to get rid of him.

"Probably not."

"Though, I do not think all humans are unaware of this strange phenomenon."

Nihlus was about to ask another question when a rapid tap against the door was heard.

"Yes?" The Consort answered.

The door opened, revealing the asari receptionist.

"Yes Nelyna?"

"Um, for you."

She extended her arm, holding a cream envelope with a big red wax seal. The Spectre just had the time to see the symbol inscribed into the wax, a large L with a flower twisting itself around it, before the Consort snatched it from her receptionist's hand. She almost ripped it while opening it before, not literally, devouring the content. She stood still for a second before springing back to life, turning her sight toward Nelyna.

"Go get her, now!"

The receptionist nodded before rushing away.

"Nihlus." She turned toward the turian. "I'm sorry but I will have to interrupt our conversation. Maybe we could continue it another time; I'll make sure you get an appointment as soon as possible."

Nihlus thought about protesting but realized he probably wouldn't win a word contest with a matriarch like the Consort. No, the best way was, as much as he hated it, was to leave and come back later. Though, he didn't have to be happy about it.

"I'll leave then." His voice dripped with sharp anger. "As you apparently have more important things do to." The insult was barely hidden.

He walked up to the door, passing it to enter the long lounge, took two steps and stopped. He had wondered what could trouble to legendary calm Consort, maybe threats by the human she had talked about he had thought. Now though, right in front of him was the reason and it sure as hell didn't look like a threat. It was a human female, or at least she looked like one. Her skin seemed as white and pure as untouched snow, cold and deadly yet inviting. Her black ink hair were like a veil of shadows moved by some intangible wind, revealing her bright green eyes, sharp and awaken. On her face, she bore a half-smile, lips red as blood. Finally, the thing that completed her definitely outworldly appearance was her unique dress that clashed with the plain robes of the acolytes and the way she moved, as if she was too light and floated over the floor, swift as a breeze. She passed by him and simply slightly turned her head toward the Spectre, it was enough to make his heartbeat rise, his breaths accelerate and make him do the turian equivalent of blushing. Then, as if it only had been a dream, she was gone, the door behind him was closed and, as if they had all been holding their breath, all of those present in the room sighed.

Nihlus blinked several times, trying to understand what had just happened. Was that one of the humans the Consort had been talking about or something else? Maybe both? But if she was here, then maybe, just maybe, the man with the sword was close. It was really pushing it, as in completely improbable, but not impossible. He shook himself off the feeling of contemplation and rushed outside as fast as he could. When he emerged on the Presidium, he searched with all the desperation he could muster until, yes, there he was, climbing inside one of the shuttles with his tobacco tube between his lips. He ran to his own skycar, now he wouldn't let him go.

* * *

They landed near the dock and so did he. He had been as careful as he could possibly be during the whole tail tailing, who knew what kind of means they had to discover him. Now, as they passed through the crowded corridors, then the less crowded ones, then the empty one save for the rare Keeper, it was becoming extremely hard to stay away. If only he had had the time to take control of one of the Citadel's millions of cameras. Finally, they stopped in one of the passages and for the first time since the beginning of his investigation, Nihlus was able to see firsthand what he had been looking for. The girl with the painting on her back pullet out what looked to be feathers from her pocket before curling up against the wall. He couldn't see her hands, but he felt the sudden gust of wind that sent chills down his spine and the surcharge of all of his gears. When she rose again, she was holding some kind of deformed black bird between her hands and murmured to him. He felt his eardrums almost rip when the little monster shrieked and flew off to do whatever her mistress had ordered him to do. Then, there was a pause for a moment before the smoking man turned the corner and another before the girl did the same. The Spectre could still hear their voices as well as the ones of two others that didn't sound like friends. They seemed to argue for a few moments, then, Nihlus heard the following.

"Our boss is Vali't, an ex asari commando. We were hired to protect a red sand deal between her and a local gang." The words tumbled out of his mouth one after the other

"How many of you are there?"

"We were twenty, I don't know if the gang or the dealer has brought peoples."

"Thanks."

So the two of them were playing vigilantes? Or had they something to do with this Vali't? The questions without answers popped in his mind before being replaced with complete surprise when two LOKI mechs suddenly turned the corner. He reached for his gun but stopped when he saw just what exactly the two mechanical construct were doing. They were hugging, yes hugging, two Eclipse mercs and calmly walking away. The two mercenaries, a salarian and a human, looked at him with the same surprise he had as they passed by and disappeared away.

"What?"

"Hey, help us." The man said.

Nihlus simply shook his head and resumed his shadowing. They could rot for all he cared.

* * *

The Spectre infiltrated the hangar is one way. He had once heard a human refer to it as the video game way, but really the Citadel ventilation ducts were the size of a Keeper so it wasn't that improbable to do so. From there, he crawled between the high shelves full of crates that composed most of the hangar, hiding behind the boxes and in the shadows to observe the red sand deal happening in the center of the room. A human girl and the asari were there, separated by a crate and discussing, well, it was more the asari dictating terms to the human but it was still a deal. He had been watching for a moment or two, he did not survived as a Spectre by charging blindly into danger after all, when the first bang happened. It wasn't a gunshot, no, it was the sound of a heavy object falling and crushing something fleshy. Almost immediately, the mercs began to panic and Vali't started shouting.

"What the fuck his happening!"

"Huh... crate problem."

"Talok and Max got crushed!" That was another of the mercs.

"Then find who did it! Now!"

Boxes don't usually crush people on their own, what was happening? Next it was a patrolling mercenary who fell over the rail, then a human got locked into the bathroom. Strange things continued to happen, some were just hilarious, others lethal, what kind of tactic was that?

Espace-

"Funny isn't it?"

He almost shrieked like a little girl when he heard the voice behind his ear. Spirits thank for the turian military enforced legendary calm. Standing right beside him, white hair, odd clothes, strange gun and melee weapons, was Helena Blake. His scanner hadn't seen her, dammit; he hadn't even heard her, almost as if she wasn't breathing. Even to his current optic, she was barely a blur.

"Why are you here?"

She smiled. It looked like the smile of some apex predator, a dangerous one.

"Now, come on. That's not the right question is it?"

"I... what are you?"

"See, that's the question."

"Will you answer me?"

She chuckled. "Of course not. That's not how it works around here. Even if the whiny newdead wished it would. Now though, I have something to do."

"What?"

"Help the beauty and the asshole."

Nihlus, by virtue of being a Specter and having done many missions in the Terminus, had seen many powerful warriors. Turian who continued to fire after both they legs had been ripped off, a salarian who could beat a Krogan in hand to hand combat, those kinds of things. He had never seen someone get shot in the back and not even flinch like Helena had been by the asari. Neither had he ever seen someone shot in the back point-blank with a heavy pistol spun around and decapitate their assailant. Both happened. Then, she became a blur of movement, only to his very eyes this time. The mercs began to scream as they got butchered by the blade wielding woman, unleashing a storm of bullets on her to no avail. It wasn't that they didn't hit her, Eclipse troopers weren't that bad of a shot, she simply didn't seem to care. It only took her a couple of minutes to clean out the mercs left after the series of pranks, which, considering she was using her fist and blades was pretty respectable.

When she stopped and calmly walked back to the center of the room, the Spectre really didn't know what to expect. Anything at this point. Which still meant he wasn't ready when she slit her wrist open, kneeled down and began feeding her blood to the human girl. Then the blue haired girl appeared from over her, except that she now had a giant pair of black wings growing from her back and which were apparently strong enough to let her glide gently to the ground. Next was the man in the coat who jumped down from one of the catwalks and seemed to slide down the crates, jumping between two shelves. With movement like these, he certainly wasn't wearing any armor. But there was something off with his movement, jumps too long without momentum, fall that landed too softly and without enough weight, just as if some kind of force was helping him. And he wasn't a biotic, no blue aura. The two of them ignored Helena and rather focused on the crate that had separated the two dealers, were they in for red sand? No, they brushed aside the drug and opened the box. So what, magical artefact? As stupid as it might sound it seemed pretty sound considering the recent events. The man was masking his view of the box, meaning he didn't expected music to start playing. It was some sort of, well the closest he thing he could imagine were some old turian military hymns but it was more energetic, more free and less strict and focused. Had they just ran through a whole Eclipse platoon just to get some music?

Anyhow, he was ready to make his way out and maybe not turn mad as a result of what he had just seen when, of course, something else happen. The sounds of heavy boots rang over the music, disrupting its flow. He heard the shout of what must have been leftover mercs, felt gun being aimed at the three, the air suddenly became charged with static. Static? The man's left gloved hand seemed to be covered by little dancing blue flames for only the briefest of instant before three electrical spikes strong enough to stun a krogan appeared on Nihlus radar. Then, the two women drew their weapons and opened fired. By the sound, they certainly weren't using mass accelerators but whatever they were using was efficient because the dot representing the mercs on the Spectre radar beeped out of existence.

This was pretty much the moment when Nihlus' mind said 'fuck it' and shut down. He might have been a Spectre and a turian but there was only so much one mind could take before breaking down into pieces and right now, Nihlus' brain had reached this limit. He collapsed against the crate he had been hiding behind, curling up like an asari maiden. The idea he didn't know what was happening was nerve racking, knowing only a little was terrifying, now he started to apprehend that learning even a part of the truth would be madness inducing. What were they? Were they real or was he insane? How did Helena move that fast? How did the girl grow wings? What kind of power did the man have? His mind was racing with those questions to the point of giving him a headache.

"Still sane?"

He raised his head toward Helena leaning over him, grinning with crimson teeth. Dripping from her tainted chin were red droplets of blood that crashed onto his armor, as to how she had covered herself with the life liquid, the implications were troubling and yet somewhat confirming a theory. Behind her shoulder he could see the girl dealer, nervousness and fear incarnate as well as alive.

"What?"

"Hum, you can still talk. That's a good sign. Aliens usually don't last that long."

"Why?"

"You lack the proper background." Proper background? "Anyway, have a good time opening the door to the world of darkness. I will enjoying watching your progress and, if you can, try to be a pain in the ass of Solomon."

And with those last words, she left, the girl following after her like a little dog. Nihlus stayed behind the box, more confused than he had ever been and with the sudden understanding what shell-shock kinda feels like. There was at least one thing he was sure of; he needed to start carrying alcohol with him, ryncol at the least.

* * *

Ordo Codex

Vampire

There are three good ways to stop a vampire: fire, sunlight and wooden stakes. There are three things really hard to find in space and space stations: fire, sunlight and wooden stakes. That, combined with the fact that the vampire population has always been proportionately linked to the human population helps explain why of all the supernatural species, the vampires are the ones who beneficiated the most of humanity's expansion through the star. It is estimated that their population is somewhere between 150 000 and 250 000. If one adds to this number their ability to easily replenish their number at will and actually choosing who becomes one of their own and they are effectively currently the strongest faction.

Biology:

Vampires are medically dead. Their hearts don't beat, they don't breathe, when they are wounded their blood doesn't flow and yet they walk around, talk and hunt. The only thing still active in them is their brain and even so, only barely. Most poisons are useless against them, especially airbone ones. From experience, the most efficient are those directly attacking the blood of the victim and necrotic poisons. Garlic is useless except in cooking, vampires date back from way before christianism, water is wet and they wouldn't have survived that long if they needed your permission to enter somewhere. Sunlight, as previously mentioned, is extremely lethal to a vampire, burning them to a crisp in under a minute. Fire as well is dangerous to the undead, capable of sending them into a frenzy if used against them. Wooden stakes are good but need to be rammed through their heart and only send them into torpor. Most of the time, vampire physical and mental capacity are the equal of what they were when they were human. In a fight though, expect a vampire to be able to be able to punch through a concrete wall, run as fast as an olympic gold winner and shrug off sledgehammer hits. They do need to drink blood but less the physical liquid and more the representation of life in liquid form which they call Vitae. This is why they can only drink fresh blood and not just simply raid blood banks whenever they feel thirsty. They are immune to almost all mundane diseases but can carry them, which, with the apparition of sida and other likewise illness. Finally, their body's perceptions to pain, heat and cold are extremely muted.

Power

Vampire powers are wide and various. The most known and who are apparently possessed by all are: the ability to pass for a human with a heartbeat, breathing and skin tone and the ability to enhance their physical capabilities. For the rest, vampires have been seen using various mind manipulations, shapeshifting, phasing, telepathy and even twilight projection. This list of power is in no way exhaustive and one should never presume to know all of the abilities of the vampire opposing him. If you do, then you clearly lack the basic survival senses that every sentient being possess and deserve all that will happen to you.

Organization:

Few things are known from the internal organisations of the vampiric race. Prince is the title given to a vampire who is the leader of 'city', the title is applied to a female or a male. The term city is a bit of a misnomer as some colony count only one Prince, if at all, and that the captain of a ship who is old enough can claim the title of Prince as well but usually a Prince's power only extends over a large city and its surroundings. It is also a known fact that the age of a vampire since his death is the main factor in measuring its level of power and importance.

Space

Though their nature has historically made travel hard and dangerous on Earth and kept them a little immobilized into cities, space travel is another matter entirely. The enclosed hull of a spaceship is a really effective protection against sunlight, not that the light of a star several light-years away was ever a problem to them because otherwise they probably wouldn't have fared that well on the early days. Fire is not really an available weapon on a starship or space station. Vaccum and the cold of space are no more dangerous to dead bodies that need no oxygen than a pinch is. They don't need food nor water and can easily survive drifting on the cold of space for years if they are left alone. When picked up though, best be careful as the lack of blood might, as in will, turn them into frenzied killers. Mass accelerator and their sand grain bullets might be effective against the various aliens of the galaxy - even though kinetic barriers and medi-gel make that as hard as they can – but the dead animated flesh of vampire was already insensible to bullets, unless they successfully blew their heart or brain into pieces, so sand grains, no matter how fast, were pretty inefficient at stopping them. Fortunately for everyone, most of the Elder kindred stayed on Earth and those that took to the stars where the desperate young ones, at first. There is still a problem a vampire in space must face. The lack of food, meaning blood, in a spaceship is quite obvious. This problem was fixed by using a large crew of ghouls and piracy.

Piracy:

The predatory nature of vampires combined with their preference for isolation, violence and need for blood led them toward pirate tendencies. A typical crew usually consisted of between one and five vampires with around ten to fifty ghouls depending on the starship size. Young vampires taking a liking to the old profession of pirate proved to be quite an odd problem for the newly created Systems Alliance as vampire does not necessarily kill their prey and thus ship crews attacked by vampire raiders would often wake up with only fuzzy memories of the event, hole in their hull, security system wiped, half the crew wounded and their cargo gone. In the first days of human space expansion, it wasn't that much of a problem as the number of vampires acting as pirates was limited to three or four ships. Before the first rocky contact with the Council, their number was more between twenty or thirty. It wasn't the violence that was the problem, as far as pirates go vampire crews tend to be somewhat okay and, really important, don't take slaves. If they wanted human/blood bags to travel with them, they bring ghouls along which are, in fact, superior to a human. No, simply the number of vampire ships and the number of attacks made some very powerful things fear for the Masquerade and began to scheme plans in consequences. It is somewhat of a running joke that maybe they were the ones that orchestrated the event of relay 314, from the turian patrol going there and opening fire and all that followed, just to get the vampire pirates away from human space and keep them in the Terminus System with the Privateer's Agreement. As of now, they are the main mercenary forces recruited when defending colonies, not that colonies would know, and the main sources of horror stories for the Batarian Hegemony, though, they too wouldn't know either. A fact that is only as funny as their blatant propaganda and over inflated ego.

Ordo Codex

Privateer's Agreement

The Privateer's Agreement was an accord signed between the five mage Orders and the vampire pirates in the wake of humanity discovery of the Council and, more importantly, the Batarian hegemony. The Adamantine Arrow jumped on the occasion to enter in a war against an enemy that went against almost all of the Order's values. Though, contrary to how they are often stereotypically portrayed - as honor before reason warriors - they knew they hadn't the resources to defend all of humanity colonies and at the same time wage a secret war against the Batarian Hegemony. They organized a meeting with the vampire captains where they proposed the terms of the agreement. In exchange for mage technologies and armament as well as monetary reward the vampires would become the equivalent of 16th century privateers, hunting batarian pirates and protecting human's colonies in collaboration with the Adamantine Arrow and other. This, of course, didn't stop supernatural piracy but did greatly reduced it as the term of the agreement didn't forbid piracy anywhere but in Council space and against other supernatural beings while preventing said supernaturals from stopping them and offered a lot of advantages. The signatories still have to follow some regulation as they have to save any slave found on an attacked ship and bring them back, answer to all calls for defense by the Adamantine Arrow, never leave any real evidence of their presence and submit their navigation logs for review. Nevertheless, the Privateer's Agreement has worked so far and has been the base upon which the secret war against the Batarian Hegemony has been built.

* * *

**Citadel docks**

The ship we exited was, by Citadel classification, a corvette. With a length of around a hundred and twenty meters and varying between thirty to ten meters wide it fitted perfectly what passed as a cramped ship for most of the Citadel's species. But then, since most of the Citadel's races seemed to consider three meter large corridors to be the norm, maybe the reputation wasn't that deserved. Anyhow, if the ship fitted the number for a corvette, it certainly didn't fit the style. It wasn't surprising really. Most ships were designed around an eezo core while this one was designed around an infinite energy chip that takes its power from another dimension and a fixed temperature heat sink, a little like the system laser weapons used. In fact, there were several lasers connected to it, among other things. Anyhow, to me, it bore great resemblance to an old battleship with its hull going outward rather than inward, the tower replaced at the back of the ship and going all the way through it, a large propeller on the side and, okay a slightly older kind of battleship here, a decorated figurehead. For those who still know what I am talking about, its design is almost a perfect copy of a Dauntless light-cruise but smaller.

So, as I said, compared to other eezo based ships it looked quite odd. Compared to other ships designed by the various supernatural groups, it was at the same time unique and right in the norm. Why? Because uniqueness is the norm. Seriously, it's not as if we had some sort of standardization going on, the fact of belonging to the supernatural on itself largely prevented that. The mage usual construction philosophy can be summarized as: if you like it and it works, that's a go. I do not know what the other supernatural groups mentality is, though I heard that Changeling's designs are always a little ferric.

* * *

Quickly, on the point of fleet because I don't know if the subject will ever come up. We, and by that I mean the mages at large, have few ships if we were to be compared to the other races of the galaxy. First, it's not that big of a problem since a portal or teleportation is way easier and faster when you want to travel from planet to planet. Second, the size of our ships is usually really small but some have enough firepower to turn a planet into an asteroid belt from, well technically anywhere in the universe. Just our corvette could probably engage an entire fleet without a problem. Though that is more due to our shield than our weapons so probably not a good example.

* * *

Anyway, that's enough boasting about the _Firefly_. Any more and it will go to its head.

So, me, Raven and Alice walked into the great Citadel, the biggest trap ever constructed. Yes, we know. It took the first cabal to come here a good twenty minutes but they managed it. But even without magic, seriously, who in their right mind chooses the massive space station in the middle of nowhere that might have been built by a race that mysteriously disappeared fifty thousand years ago as the seat of their coalition's government. Hell, it sounds more like a horror movie premise than anything else, a bad one at that. The Council chamber is even in the form of a freaking Reaper for god's sake.

Anyway, for some strange reason, it was the political and economical center of the Council races, one that most supernaturals avoided to stay at for too long. As far as I know, officially the Presidium is claimed by both the Seer of the Throne and the Silver Ladder and the two are engaged in a fierce battle for it. In reality, if the Council was to ever be bewitched by anyone and started to make meaningful decisions with real impacts, I think the wave of Disbelief would disintegrate every spell in a ten thousand light-year radius. As such, both groups settled for a lower but more direct form of command over the ambassadors and some important colony governments while fighting each other through proxies. Personally, I also think the idea of having to live on the Citadel wasn't something anyone with a connection to the supernatural envied. Really, I don't have enough knowledge on the other supernatural groups to say, but through my Sight I could see the traces of the billions of murders that had happened here. The layers of pain, agony, fear and distress that covered every inch of the Citadel; the resulting Wraiths having barely faded in the last fifty thousand years.

As such, along with the Wards, the Citadel was mostly free of any major group influence. Which meant the place was crawling with said Wraiths, violent Spirits, delusional Banishers, addicted Vampires, fanatic Hunters and other horrors. Hell, just three weeks ago an Adamantine Arrow cabal fought a mad mage who thought himself the bringer of a new age of undead domination. Hmm, with stupid ideas like that it's a miracle the Paradoxs didn't get to him before them.

Ah damn, I'm blabbering again. Let's get back to the three of us heading toward our first destination.

* * *

We passed the docks surprisingly inefficient borders and from there took an automated shuttle to the Presidium. I will take this as an example to ramble, again yes, on why the Citadel is freaking dangerous. On the Ward, oxygen only goes up seven meters up and so the only thing separating us from the vacuum was the shell of a X3M. It might not be a problem for most peoples, but I have spent enough time dabbling into the occult to know that I am doing the equivalent of handing a loaded gun to my enemies. By some miracle, we landed without dying in front of the Consort's Chambers.

Espace-

"Yes. Can I help... you."

The surprise on the asari's face was quite blatant. I suppose she doesn't often see people with as much style as us.

"Yes." Alice stepped up in front of her, immediately capturing the blue girl's attention. She wasn't one of the Fairest for anything. "I would like to leave a message for Sha'ira. Please."

"You want to make an appointment? I think I can find you a place next month. In the meantime you are welcome to come and..."

"Sorry, but no. I simply want to leave a message for her."

"Oh. Okay. What is the message?"

I'm pretty sure she was expecting some kind of verbal dictate or email, not an actual cream colored envelope written in ink and sealed with blood red wax.

"Oh, eh, I don't know if..."

"I plead to you; deliver this to the Consort today for me. An offering of beauty as reward to avoid to wither."

"Huh..." She hesitated a moment, taken slightly aback by the, even for me, odd phrase. "I... I suppose, okay then."

* * *

She took the envelope and... Bam! Would I have had my Sight up, lifting the veil over the true world, I would have seen ephemeral red ribbons entangle themselves around the asari, binding her into a pledge with a Changeling. The receptionist felt some effect though if her suddenly widened eyes, blushing and half repressed gasp were any indications. It is frightening to see how easy it is for someone unaware to fall into a Changeling contract, unknowingly binding themselves into a pledge that the universe itself is watching. Unlike modern contracts, you can't get out of those with just by saying: I lied, then run away. You break the pledge; you suffer the consequences, the end. Sure you can find loopholes if you're lucky but Changelings are pretty good at this, otherwise they wouldn't have escaped their True Fae kidnappers. Even thinking of way to break your word is sometime enough to trigger the consequences. I swear every time I talk to one I scrap my nerves trying to uncover the trap behind every words in fear of pledging myself to a suicide mission, again.

* * *

The three of us turned and walked a little farther.

"So, just how entangled is this matriarch?" I asked while lighting up a Lucky Strike.

I barely had the time to say this before the running asari caught up to us.

"Wait. Miss, please. The Consort would like to talk with you."

Raven whistled. "Damn, that's a lot."

With a wave of the hand, Alice brushed off the comment and turned toward the blue woman.

"It would be my pleasure. Just a second please." She turned toward us. "So, see you two tonight."

"You really think it will take you that long?" I was curious about that.

"Yes." She sighed. "She hides it well but a thousand years at keeping secrets gave her quite a lot of nightmares."

"I also heard that she was pretty cute." Interjected a smirking Raven.

"What? What has that to do with anything?"

"Oh, I don't know. It's just that you always seem more eager to help nice looking girl for free."

She lifted her chin toward the false sky, adopting a false scandalized expression, might also be a true one considering her origin. "Lies and slander that I will not grace with an answer." Then she took a way more serious expression. "Experience as taught me better than to trust beauty."

And with that she left with the asari who now looked strikingly more beautiful than a couple of minutes ago.

* * *

Okay, I know I harped a little previously about Changeling deals and not in a good light. But really the conditions of it and thus their levels of wickedness really depend on the one setting up the deal and for a Fairest; Alice is really what could be called a good one. As relative as it may be; she is our dream specialist and really you shouldn't be laughing. I'm not saying that she sits you on a couch and ask you about your night, no, she mentally travels inside your mindscape and manifest there with a body chosen by her unconscious and explore your brain which appear as an allegorical construct commonly called the _Oneiros_. From there, she can transform the most bloodthirsty krogan into a vegetarian scared of his own shadow, loot the most secret memories of the salarian Dalatrass without her even realizing it or turn the most sane of elcor into a psychotic wreck. Then, if she moves higher she can access the _Temenos_ which is, approximatively, the general unconscious of all sentient being. There you can walk into the unconscious representation of say, the Citadel, that is formed by the thoughts, feelings and ideas of all of those that live in it. Want to have something done in the real world, do it every night in the _Temenos_ Citadel and watch a new form of social engineering in action. After that you have the _Anima Mundi_ which is the most impersonal of three _Astral Stratum_ has it isn't concerned at all by you. It is, in a way, the subconscious manifestation of the entire universe, the dreams of all that lives and doesn't form this place where you are truly insignificant. By the way, no, there hasn't been any tentative to apply social engineering in this realm. The sheer size and logistic of it combined with the inherent dangers of the place makes it an insanity that even the Seers of the Throne would laugh at.

* * *

From there Raven and I took another flying coffin to the Wards.

"So, since I suppose you knew that would happen. Why did you really bring me along?"

"Do you know what day it is?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Based on which calendar?"

"Gregorian."

"3 may."

"Exactly. And tomorrow is...?"

I actually had to think a little about it. I knew that may fourth was Star Wars day thanks to my calendar, doubt it was what she was talking about, there was no occult celebration to mention, nor any grand event. "Hmm, was there a war between the Werebeasts I didn't know about and is celebrated tomorrow?"

She sighed. "Yes. But what I was talking about is Alice and Lizzie's birthday."

"Tomorrow's their birthday?"

"Yes. Though I suppose I should have expected that from you."

Yeah, I am kind of really bad at remembering details like names, anniversary, dates, those little things. I can remember faces, actions, and the content of a three thousand year old occult scroll I read six month ago but I need a post-it to remember Raven's birthday.

"Okay, okay. So, we are looking for a gift."

"No, I already took care of that. The only thing left for us is to pick it up."

I knew the smile she was making. It wasn't a reassuring one. "Yeah, no way. What went wrong?"

She shrugged. "Well, I hired some normal people to bring it from earth, they got arrested for some out of date papers and got all of their cargo confiscated. Then this cargo found itself on the edge of the terminus and the way of another stupid batarian pirate raid that got intercepted by vamp raiders who contacted me and accepted to deliver the gift here. And they did. But now the Ghoul they placed to watch the hangar got shot and apparently, Eclipse mercs have taken possession of the place. You know, the usual."

I couldn't help a small sigh. "Why are our lives so... hurg. Well, since it's Eclipse I suppose I should be glad there isn't any ritual sacrifice of seven virgins in order to contain an old god or the invocation of a fire god from old batarian legends included. Right?"

"Pfu, no way." She rolled her eyes. "The group has asari in it. With a human only group, maybe. But asari, they wouldn't believe in the supernatural even if you were to throw them into the spirit world. Which is freaking weird because they're all biotics."

"Biotics are not supernatural." That lesson had been learned painfully and is still learned by many newbies. The Abyss must have had a field day with that.

"Even so, you'd think people that can manipulate gravity would be more open to the idea of the occult. Not laugh about it at every turn."

"Honestly, I'm not gonna complain. I'd rather not see the asari develop their own Inquisition, the catholic and protestant ones are already enough of a pain in the ass."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But hey, they have like what, thousands of years of history and even thousand year old citizens. How the hell does none of them ever even have one supernatural encounter? Not even a big one, just a ghost or a little spirit."

"The same thing could be said about humans you know." I know the argument was miserable but I like the fire in her eyes when she gets angry.

"Tss, no comparison. Humanity had several Hunter conspiracies dedicated to fight the supernatural, a load of insane scholars, madmen and such who all know about more or less about the hidden world. Okay it's less than one percent of the population but it's still something. The asari, well, any alien races in fact, nothing. I assumed the turians at least would have some sort of organization about that with all their talk about spirits."

"Agreed. And the salarians with their STG?"

"Oh come on, they're way too remote from anything spiritual to even think about it. With their need to understand everything they will turn more insane then a lovecraft protagonist two seconds after their first supernatural encounter."

She huffed, pouting. "Really this contact with alien civilisations has been pretty disappointing so far. No new werebeasts, no new Changeling kind, even their spirits look like weak newborn. It's almost as if they had had no contact with the supernatural before we arrived."

"Yeah. So far the thing has been a pretty bad deal on all levels." I caressed her two toned hair. "There is still the Ardat-Yakshi."

She leaned against my shoulder.

"Oh please. A newdead vampire could rip the head off one without breaking a sweat."

"On that point, can we count on the vamp for help?"

My question was met with an empty look.

"Of course."

* * *

We arrived at our destination on Kithoi Ward and left the automated shuttle for the large corridors that composed the Ward. The usual crowd of turian, asari, volus, humans and even the rare quarian hiding in the side alleys as a constant reminder of the Council's heartlessness and imbecility, walking around, shopping, eating, working, and begging. It was a peaceful scene that looked nightmarishly different when I used my Sight.

* * *

For the non-mage, the Sight refers to when a mage uses one of the ten arcana that categorize magic - Death, Fate, Force, Life, Matter, Mind, Prime, Space, Spirit and Time- to lift the veil that covers the universe. Depending on the arcana, how you see the universe can change quite a lot. Though all allow the same basic things; observing covert spells, magic in general and scrutinize resonance which is basically the aura of persons, things and places. I myself have trained in three of them, Force, Prime and Life. Force Sight allows me to visually perceive all of the universe's forms of energy like heat, wireless signals, cosmic radiations and more. The Prime Sight, apart from being the most potent to read resonances makes it that I only need to concentrate on someone to see his nature aura. Basically what the person is: a mundane Sleeper or a supernatural being. Finally, there is the Life Sight which is quite useful at reading the presence of mystic vital animation and also the least used of my Sight.

* * *

Now, seeing as I was walking through the Citadel with both Force and Prime Sight on, from my point of view it was as if I was advancing through a constantly changing ocean of pulsating waves of energy with colors that couldn't be described with words and that had vaguely humanoid forms of muted grey walking through it, normal people. At my side, the aura of Raven was one of vibrating violet, yellow and slight streak of silver, a Werebeast. In short, let's just say that it was pretty hard to navigate and I don't even want to think about fighting. As to why I was doing that, well, Prime was because I was still hoping to find an alien supernatural and Force was because you can actually read patterns through wireless signals, heat and elements zero radiations that would warn you of any attack way before it would actually happen. It's insane the levels of energy an armed and armored mercs squad emit, just the omni-tool of an engineer is like a giant flare to me.

Anyway, we walked toward the hangar through ever less and less populated places until reaching the Eclipse controlled area. There, we found ourselves hiding behind one of the bullet and missile proof walls that composed the Citadel at the end of an alleyway, a side door leading to the hangar at the other end. Ah, one of the advantages of being able to manipulate and even create the energy of this universe while being on a space station which walls had electricity literally running through them and was full of signals is the numbers of option available to me. Just now, one of my eyes' sight had been replaced by the one of a camera observing the Eclipse by picking up the wireless signal the little machine was transmitting. There was our first obstacle in the form of an engineer, a trooper and five LOKI mechs.

"So?" Raven was stamping with impatience, her right hand already covered with tiny scales and sporting curved claws in place of nails.

"I can take care of the LOKI's no problem." Gekkos now I would have been a little less sure. "But the two guys could use some focus redirection."

She grinned. "Hmm, a distraction then."

From her pockets she picked up small sticks, some dirty or broken feathers, tiny ropes and a pair of red LEDs. Five minutes later, the trash had been assembled together in some sort of mockery of a raven that could only have passed for one if you were really drunk. Fortunately, its appearance wasn't the point. Holding the monstrous puppet between her hands, she closed her eyes and gently blew on it. For a brief second, the static in the air reached extreme levels while the body of the creation acted as if it was drifting in a great wind; extending its wings and letting them catch the invisible flow.

"**Go little one and by you be everyone fascinated**." Raven murmured to the puppet.

It answered with a strangled cry before taking off into the air, flying down the corridor and landing just over the closed door. If the LOKI's didn't even flinch, the same couldn't be said of the salarian engineer and the human trooper. What Raven had just created is commonly called a Tar-Baby and unlike the one in the story, this tar-baby emotionally latches onto its victims. They are captured by its aura of mockery, compelled to focus on the damnable thing with spite and hatred. As the person is attracted by the creation, it pushes the victim onto an agitated state bordering on fury, then it evolves into absurd theatrics of rage before finally the entrapped notice nothing except the mocking tar-baby. The two mercenaries were at this state when I walked up to them and connected myself to the LOKI's mech.

* * *

Okay, again for the non-mage I will give you a summary.

1\. Magic is basically an act of will on the part of the mage. The mage canalizes the energy from the supernatural realm through his soul which is then shaped by the mage's mental image of what the magical energy should do, the Imago, based on the arcana used.

2\. Magic works on an idealistic level, not a scientific one. It's why, for example, shadows and darkness is actually considered a thing in itself and not simply a lack of light.

3\. Each arcanum is divided into five ranks – Initiate, Apprentice, Disciple, Adept and Master – depending on how much control one has over this aspect of magic. A Force Initiate is pretty limited to a Sight, manipulate heat, light and sounds, listening on wireless signals, nightvision, hearing sub/supersonic frequencies and the like. A master like me can create EMP blasts, earthquakes, fly, summon tsunamis, manipulate gravity a little and has pretty much total control and creation power over heat, light, sound, electricity, fire and kinetic energy.

4\. The universe hates mages, only mages and on a really personal level. When using vulgar magic, a.k.a. magic that stretches the laws of the universe a little too much like a thousand fireballs or changing a solid wall into sand, there is a tiny slight risk that it, the universe, takes notice and snaps back at you. If you're lucky, your spell only backfires. If you're really unlucky, there's an abyssal demon that pops up into existence somewhere around and whose eternal goal is to make your life a living hell. And of course, the more powerful you get and the more likely the universe is to notice you. One of the main reasons why I didn't charged the Eclipse mercs with lightning and flames like a demon from heaven.

* * *

To activate the LOKI's password was an Apprentice level trick. After that, it was simple to reprogram them to our side and with a couple of other protocols. The two mercenaries were still completely obsessed with the false bird when Raven came along and pulled out some zip ties. The next moment, the tar-baby dissolved into black goo and foul smelling smoke, freeing the two mercenaries who found themselves pretty confused and with the bore of a Luger P08 barrel and my pistol against the back of their heads.

"What! How did this happen?" The salarian started.

"Omni-tool new apps. Now drop your weapon or drop dead."

The human smirked. "Idiot. Team omega, protocol six."

His words hanged in the air for an instant. I am pretty sure he was expecting something from the mechs, too bad for him.

"Why did they put me with you…" The salarian sighed.

Raven pushed the end of the Luger's barrel deeper against the man neck.

"Last chance."

They were maybe ruthless mercenaries but they weren't stupid. Their weapons fell at their feet.

"Okay. Now, engage protocol valentine."

The two Eclipse watched, first in complete astonishment then with mild terror as two LOKI mechs walked up to both mercs, opened their arms and hugged them, tightly.

"Huh!?" The salarian seemed in shock.

"What the hell!?"

While they were occupied, Raven and I snatched both of their omni-tools and smashed them.

"Hey, you can't do that." That was the, now, quite upset salarian.

"Why?" That's something I was truly curious about. It seemed that nobody bothered to remove the omni-tool of the people they capture. Seriously, I saw a police officer using what he called omni-cuffs which were apparently holographic handcuffs somehow binding a person's arms but left the person their omni-tool. How low has common sense fallen for police officers to leave criminals with a freaking computer able to run hundreds of hacking programs, communications and a thousand other things capable of breaking them free? Omni-blade much. Maybe there was a law somewhere that said that you can't remove someone else's omni-tool.

"I... uh... you just don't do that."

"So much for the legendary salarian wits. Now hold still."

There was a faint shriek sound as the zip tie closed around his wrist.

Once that was done and we were ready to leave when the human looked at our weapons.

"Wait. Those aren't guns."

"Certainly not mass accelerators." The salarian added.

They were right, mine was an energy weapon and Raven was shooting the equivalent of a bullet size disruptor torpedo. Funny the thing a cabal of Adamantine Arrow armorer can come up with the entire russian stock of old AK-10x, an equal stockpile of munitions, the ability to transmute eezo by the ton and two weeks of free time.

"Certainly not." I answered with a smile.

The human let out a pitiful groan. "Dammit, she's gonna kill us both once she learns that."

"And she's gonna torture us if you don't shut it now."

I could have felt pity for the two. But it feels hard to do so considering they were mercenaries and the space mercenaries in Citadel space are some of the worst individuals you can imagine, to a few exceptions, which made Academies look like GI-Joe. Most are run more like gangs than anything else. For example, shooting employees who get captured.

Raven approached the human, removing his helmet to look at his young face. "You. Tell me what's happening in there and I let you get away."

"Pfu, as if it's gonna work." The salarian smiled.

At first, he might have been right. But the muzzle of a Luger under his chin combined with the feral aura of a Corvian can be powerful motivators.

"Our boss is Vali't, an ex asari commando. We were hired to protect a red sand deal between her and a local gang." The words tumbled out of his mouth one after the other

"How many of you are there?"

The salarian was left agape at the human blabbering of their operation on an offhand promise.

"We were twenty, I don't know if the gang or the dealer has brought people."

"Thanks."

"Now you let me go?" He was almost begging to her.

"Yeah. To C-Sec."

"What?"

"Idiot." The other merc whispered.

Calmly, the hugging LOKI's started to walk away toward C-Sec station with a full recording of his confession. The only thing missing would be Raven's face and both our voices.

* * *

"Well, that was something." I shook my head. "You call her or do I?"

Here I was referring to a certain Helena Blake, or at least it was the name she was using right now. She and her coterie were probably responsible for three-fourths of the recent reduction in drug trafficking. Why? It gave blood a bad taste and nobody wants to see drugged vampires running loose on the Citadel. She was the Prince of the Citadel and it was her job to keep the blood sucker's population in control, to deal with the troublesome and make sure nobody notices that a small part of the Council's great space station population liked to feed on the rest. Though, with a population of around thirteen million, there probably wasn't more than a hundred, hundred and fifty vampires present in the Citadel, probably way less considering the atmosphere, fewer than there is in Boston. Still, even say fifty or seventy enraged vampires could probably chew through a good chunk of the station without much problem which is why Helena was trying her best to limit the drug circulation so that none of them did. Well, at least because of drugs.

"Hey, you're the one she fears, you contact her."

"Maybe but she also hates me. It's you she likes"

"She likes my blood, that's not the same at all." The door to the hangar opened. "Me, I'm going in."

"Be careful."

"As always."

"That's exactly what I fear."

"I know." And a flying kiss later, the door closed on a smirking girl.

"Still. Be safe." I murmured for myself

The voice that rang inside my ear sounded violent, as if I had mortally insulted the person simply by calling her.

"Yes."

"It's Solomon."

There was a sort of shuffling sound and a couple of beeps. The voice that spoke next was way softer but had still a sharp edge barely hidden.

"What do you want Solomon?"

"Helena, charming as ever."

There was a groan, like the one of a wolf. "Solomon, as rude as ever. Tell me, are you always that much of an ass."

"No, only you are special enough for me to be that nice."

"Well now I know why you're parents committed suicide."

"Okay. So now that this is out of the way, I just wanted to inform you that there is a deal happening right now."

"I know. And no I won't help you get back whatever you want from that hangar. I'm not a recovery company."

She was ready to hang up. "But what if I told you the deal involve red sand?"

There was a moment of silence before she answered. "Solomon. If you are lying to me just to get my help I swear I will suck dry an entire orphanage and paint your name with their brains on the ground of the Council chamber."

"I swear to you that there is a deal going on that; based on the current information I have, involve red sand. There should be around twenty guys. Do whatever you want with that, me, I have to catch up with Raven." And I hanged up.

Helena already hated my guts ever since I burned one of her child, hanging up on her wouldn't change that by much. Now, I had to reach Raven before she start to prank the mercenaries to death.

* * *

The inside of the hangar was rank after rank of shelves full of more bulletproof crates all lit by powerful lights that illuminated the whole room. Eclipse troopers could be seen patrolling the numerous catwalks and guarding the entrances, watching for anything out of the ordinary. Which seemed a little dumb to me. Isn't hiring mercs the best way to attract attention to yourself? Also, what looked to be the two dealers; an asari clad in a black body-glove, which was called armor these days, with a look of contempt on her face and a shabby dressed girl were discussing with a crate between them. Why couldn't criminals discuss their deals in some restaurant during lunch rather than in some shady part of town? It's as if they wanted vigilantes or movie ambushes to happen. Anyhow, I followed the same path Raven took, walking some bland corridors until I reached a console. The thing was simply a stock list but it was connected to the internal system and that was all I needed to take control of the few cameras inside. With those electronic eyes, I began to observe the situation and look out for signs of Raven's usual meddling. I didn't have to wait for too long.

* * *

The first to feel was a salarian. Calmly walking on one of the catwalks, he suddenly felt and saw a black form brush past him. Reflectively, he looked at his radar, nothing. Well that's reassuring. He twisted his head, looking for whatever it was that had passed him. Further along the path, there was a strange black winged animal looking at him. What the hell was that thing doing here?

"Shh, go away."

The only answer from the bird was a short croak. How interesting. He approached it, only for the black animal to jump away and continue to look at him. As if it wanted him to follow. Well, why not. It's not as if anything bad could happen. Calmly, he began to pursue the dark bird who guided him through the footbridges on the air until they reached one of the shelves. There, the creature seemingly began to push against one of the crates before jumping on top of it and start hoping.

"You want me to push this?"

The salarian could have sworn the bird nodded. Well, that was turning into something extremely interesting. He rarely had seen animal with such intelligence. Maybe he could investigate that latter. Right now, he didn't saw any problem into doing what the animal seemed to ask of him, always had a little weakness for animal life. It felt a little odd but what wasn't at first view. He pushed the crate, easily at that.

"Happy?"

The bird let out what sounded like a strangled laugh which was almost immediately covered by the sound of a heavy object falling followed by the scream of two people.

Almost immediately, his ears were filled by the yells of Vali't.

"What the fuck is happening!?"

"Huh... crate problem."

"Talok and Max got crushed!" That was another of the mercs.

"Then find who did it! Now!"

"Well, shit."

* * *

The big raven that was, well, Raven, continued to play with them, both in a lethal and non-lethal way until they were quite literally panicking. It was quite a strange spectacle to see, one I only helped a little to create. The asari, Vali't, was looking more and more pissed off while the girl facing her was sweating profusely and looked a second away from a panic attack. Of course, it was the moment Helena decided to show up. She emerged from the shadow of a shelve alley, clad in a white and red robe that was opened on the front from the waist down, showing her black pants and scarlet boot. Strapped around her chest were military suspenders to which a pair of world war one German bayonets as well as a FN Five-seven were strapped. Yes, out of place outfit weren't an exclusivity of our group. Now, this combined with the fact that she was applauding as she was making her way toward the meeting helped explain a little why all the mercenaries simply looked at her with total astonishment and made no move to stop her. Maybe it also had something to do with her powers that she suddenly seemed to be the most important person in the room that nothing could hurt, who knows. In any case, I left the camera for a window, Helena was but a blurry smudge to them and I wanted to hear the conversation.

It took only a second after I made my first step on the metal catwalk for a raven to land beside me and, in a cloud of feathers that dissolved into black dust a moment latter, turned back into her human form.

"Had fun?"

"Plenty. What do you think Helena will do?" She sat on the railing, legs hanging thirty meters over the ground.

"If they back down, only a warning. If not... I doubt she has survived for more than a century by being shy with violence."

"Yeah, too bad for them." She sighed.

"Yep."

* * *

Down on the floor, Helena had walked up to the two dealers, not caring even a bit for all the guns that were now aimed at her.

"Welcome. Let me introduce myself, I am Helena Blake."

She bowed a little, still smiling disturbingly. Facing her, the other woman and the alien did not respond to Helena salutation. A mistake really. There was some kind of unwritten law in the supernatural world that, to a point, polite manners were really important. It was vital when you deal with spirits capable to turn an entire city into a volcano with an off thought, Werewolves capable of ripping the arm of a krogan or any other kind of thing. If someone came to you, bowed and introduced himself, the least you could do was to answer properly. Then you could go on with the fighting. When compared with the relative rudeness of everyone else, it sometimes created friction. Just now, as Helena rose from her bow, even at the distance I could have sworn I saw her twitch.

"So, you two. You might not have been informed but red sand and other similar drugs have recently become highly regulated on the Citadel under penalty of death. Though, some people never get the memo unfortunately. But, I am not unreasonable and as such I am giving you both a chance to stop this stupidity right now."

"What?" The human girl was left with her mouth hanging open while Vali't simply had a 'are you kidding me' look.

That didn't discourage Helena who took a step forward, putting herself in front of the girl and between the two.

"Miss. Whatever you think about doing, it isn't worth it. Turn back now and you might just live."

See, when I talked about Helena's powers, I wasn't kidding. The girl looked at the same time to be terrified and in awe of Helena and give or take a couple of seconds she would probably have done just as the Prince ordered. Unfortunately, the asari decided that the Helena was crazy and whipped out an M-3 Predator before proceeding to shoot the vampire in the back. Without any barrier or armor to oppose it, the heavy pistol round pierced her skin, passed through her chest whose organs had long since became useless to the undead she was and reduced to black, frail lump of organic tissue that didn't block the round in any way, chipped one of her ribs and exited her body to then smash into the human dealer. Time seemed to float for a moment as the poor girl realized there was now a bleeding hole through her, that her stomach was but a torn mess and that she was dying. It was also a time during which the asari remembered something called over-penetration, which, with everyone shooting projectiles at relativistic speed, you'd think would be a more common occurrence.

During the whole thing though, Helena hadn't so much as blinked.

"So be it then."

The dying girl didn't had the time to hit the ground that, faster than the eyes could see, the vampire had spinned, drawn her blade and rammed them through the asari, lifting her from the ground, smiling as the alien screamed before finally ripping her throat. That, that made the mercenaries react. Too bad for them that shooting dead flesh with bullets the size of a sand grain is not that efficient, as in not at all. It was already hard to bring them down with 7.62 expanding rounds, a modern assault rifle, don't even think about it. She on the other hand had no problem to jump from mercenary to mercenary at superhuman speeds and hit them through the weakness of their armor with enough strength to yank them off the ground. Some only had the time to see a blur before both their arms were separated from their bodies, others saw their legs fall under them before being thrown over the edge of the catwalk they were standing on. They could have fared a lot better of course, Helena isn't invincible. Ganging up on her with knife or bayonet they didn't have, using a flamethrower or even just rushing her at twenty would probably have had some positive result. Too bad the only thing they did was to scream and shoot at her until their weapons overheated. Oh, bashing her with overheating weapons, that could probably have yielded some nice results. In a matter of minutes, all the Eclipse troopers were either partially dismembered or agonizing their last moments or already dead.

* * *

"Seems clear enough."

"Probably." I wasn't sure about those guarding the exits outside though.

"Hmm, first to the ground wins."

I didn't even have the time to answer before she jumped from the rail, thirty meters in the air. I want to point out that I didn't panic seeing what might have been otherwise considered a suicidal action, in part because I trust her and know her enough to know that she would never kill herself unless it meant she would screw with over ten million people and also a little because the tattoo on her back had disappeared to be replaced by a very real pair of ink black wings with a span of around five meters.

"Win what?"

"What I want." She answered back.

What followed is another one of the reasons why I don't wear formal armor even though it is apparently legal to waltz around in military grade equipment. The thing weighs a ton and you are either a game character or an action movie hero if you can manage a roll or a jump with it and I am neither. I can't imagine trying to free run with anything heavier than light armor, not with heavy magic usage at least. Which is why I used something more discreet. It's a rote I got from the Ka no Maki, The Fire Scroll, which itself is part of the _Hiden Gogyo Bujutsu_. Long story short, it's an old set of scrolls describing outdated arts of warfare and now mostly useless except for the magical knowledge hidden in its 15th century kanji. If I remember correctly, it is called the floating step and basically it manipulates wind currents and kinetic energy around me to improve my balance and jumping ability, all while reducing my effective weight. Anyhow, I made my way down, jumping from crate to crate, ledges, nooks and such until I hit the ground with a roll, landing in front of Raven, her wings folded around herself like some kind of cloak.

"You won."

She shrugged. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"Never, with that ego of your supporting you I have no chance to beat you in the air."

She sticked her tongue out to me. "Pfu, sore looser"

We made our way toward what was previously the place of a drug deal and now was the scene of a way more disturbing event. Crouched over the body of the dying girl, Helena was feeding her, her blood. I don't know what had been the poor girl first reaction, but right now she was voraciously drinking it. I doubt she was turning the girl into a vampire, that is not something you do lightly, more likely Helena was making herself a new ghoul. I couldn't do anything, not without major consequence, and I am not sure I wanted to do anything anyway.

"Okay, which crate?"

Raven knocked the top of the one the top dealer had used as a table.

"You're kidding?"

"Nope."

Beside it, Helena rose from her position over the girl, leaving her breathless, not literally, and with the hole in her stomach gone. She turned toward us, moving slightly toward Raven, smiling. A smile only slightly ruined by the blood and fangs.

"What is in this crate exactly?"

"No idea."

"I'll tell you if you explain to me why you are here, alone." Raven retorted.

The bayonets wielding Prince shrugged. "I have lived for over two hundred years, soon three. I have fought Lupines, mages, ghosts, spirits and a thousand more things that I never learned the name of while dealing with generations of over ambitious newdead kindred and pompous Elders. I don't actually need a retinue to do the killing for me; it is simply for the sake of tradition. Especially against those modern mercenaries, I was more afraid of the gangsters of my youth. Also, I like doing some ground work from time to time, especially if it means I get to talk with you." She leaned over the crate, smirking.

Action to which Raven answered by opening the case, shoving her away to reveal the inside, all with a smile. From under the stuffing, she extracted a metal easel whose frame was an intertwinement of sculpted roses. Then, a complete painting set which also followed the rose theme

"That's for Alice. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find physical supports for painting these days."

The second thing she pulled from the box was an assemblage of engraved wooden box and large bronze cone.

"Antique gramophone for Lizzie with..." She grabbed a vinyl. "24 Caprices for Solo Violin"

I have no idea what the price of those things was, but seeing that they were antiques from over three hundred years old, the answer was probably a lot or insanely a lot.

"Can you play it?"

We both turned toward Helena, an inquiring look on our face.

"What? I haven't heard anything but techno for the last five years."

Okay, even I cringed at that.

"Raven?"

She sighed. "Why not."

The contact of the needle against the surface of the disk produced a little ping sound that was almost immediately forgotten when the violins began to play. First heard four hundred and fifty five years ago, the composition had lost nothing of its beauty. In fact, the homogeneity of modern music made it even more unique and memorable.

* * *

This, of course, meant that someone interrupted it. The sound of a door opening and heavy metal boots against the ground clashed with the violins of old. Three mercs that must have been guarding some door far away came rushing in to their demise.

"What!? Hey, you! Don't move!"

They raised their guns at us but it was already too late.

Now, for my last commentary of the day: why I don't use barriers. Because they need batteries, powerful batteries, same thing for their weapons, that run on electricity. And so, before they even had the time to press the trigger, I had wrapped my will around the electricity contained inside all of their equipment. Then, simply directed it where I wanted it to go, the person inside the armor. The three of them got the entire electrical charge of their gear forcefully rushed through their bodies, burning their nerves, scorching their skin and short-circuiting their organs. They fell on their knee, not dead but probably bleeding from the ears, with several two degree burns over and inside their bodies, muscles locked and maybe brain damage. Didn't really matter anyway because the next instant the two girls at my side opened fire. Now, normally a kinetic barrier would make Raven and Helena weapon kind of useless for at least a full magazine. Of course, Raven and Helena weren't using normal munitions. Their disruptor bullets completely bypassed the Eclipse mercs shield and crashed against their armor. Ah yes, good modern armor with ceramic plates, entirely focused into restraining the damages caused by sand grain size projectiles. Had they been using old lead core, it would probably have taken two or maybe even three shots to shatter their chestplate. Unfortunately for the mercenaries, the Cabal producing the disruptor bullets had switched to tungsten core a long time ago, among other things, and as such the first mercenary who got hit by a nice 9 x 19mm felt like a sledgehammer had it him on the chest, a new sensation from the usual sharp burn of a mass accelerator wound immediately followed by the cold feeling of medi-gel. With his plastron now shattered into a hundred shards, the next bullets had no obstacle preventing them from turning the two mercs into shredded cheese, breaking their bones, tearing their flesh and tearing their organs. They crashed on the ground, two jagged puppets whose ropes had been cut and were now not much more than bleeding pulp of meat.

The third was only momentarily saved by Helena's intervention.

"Wait."

"What?" Raven was still aiming at the shaking man.

The Prince smiled, voluntarily exposing her fangs. "I'm a little thirsty right now after having saved a dying girl while helping out of the goodness of my dead heart. I think a little compensation is in order. Unless you..."

"Nope, go ahead." She lowered her weapon and took a step back.

"Your loss."

Helena walked up to the shaking man, removed his helmet and simply began to feed. From what I have seen in the past, vampires can be very gentle when doing it. Here though, the Prince simply tore through the man's neck and began gulping the flowing blood. It was a spectacle neither I nor Raven were really interested in watching, especially since Helena was giving a look that was all but friendly as she was eating.

"Okay." I turned to Raven. "Anything else we have to do here?"

"Nope, just need your muscle to pick it up."

"Okay, then let's get out of here before C-Sec arrives and start asking question they don't want the answer to."

I lifted the crate.

"After you."

* * *

Ordo Codex

Disruptor bullet

Often confounded with the disruptor ammo used by many official militaries and mercenary gangs, the disruptor bullet has almost nothing in common with it. Developed by a mix Adamantine Arrow and Free Council cabal, _Equilibrium_, when they found themselves isolated in an ex-Russian, now European Union, arms depot by a pretty angry Vila for a week. A disruptor bullet's only major difference with regular 21st century ammunition is that a part of its core is replaced by a small part of element zero designed to interact with the field emitted by a kinetic barrier and fuck them up. A little like a disruptor torpedo does. Its creation was met with great enthusiasm as it filled two of the needs of many modern mages and supernatural creature alike. First: a munition capable of bypassing those pesky shields. Second: a munition usable with mechanical firearms as mass accelerators tend to fail heavily during supernatural conflict or be useless altogether at stopping supernatural threats. Its creation was highly controversial for its use of element zero, resulting in many cabals condemning the creators and at least two duel. The instant popularity of the disruptor bullet as well as its importance in the establishment of the _Privateer's Agreement_ shut most of those critics and for the other, the cabal argued that the goal of the Free Council had always been to further the enlightenment of the Fallen world through the mixing of technology and magic and that even if one of their own was opposed to that he could shut his trap and go back to where he belonged, in the Seer of the Throne. That insult alone caused a minor cold war which was rhymed by the sound of arcane duels. Few things are known about how the disruptor bullets are made other than without the mage's ability to manufacture high quantites of eezo and the use of a factory half located in the Shadow world, mass production would be impossible.

Ordo Codex

Mechanical Firearms

The percentage of mechanical firearms used by various supernatural factions and beings of the galaxy, nearly one hundred percent, might seem odd to the ones used to modern mass accelerators. There are several reasons for that fact. First: the tendency for the supernatural world to favor old, or at least older looking, weapons. The force of habit and tradition is strong in the hidden world where some of its denizens were born before the invention of firearms. Second: the highly complex and entirely electrical mass accelerator react badly when in the presence of a lot of supernatural energy, like the kind a fight tends to produce and a weapon jam is the last thing you want during one of those. Just as an example, the rangefinder and electronic optics that simply don't work against a ghost and most spirits when in the normal world, is just completely useless in the Spirit world and generally unreliable which then leads to the weapon malfunctioning. Mechanical firearms using chemical propellant on the other hand are way harder to jam, immune to hack and their iron sight is pretty hard to fool. Third: when the numerous military powers of Earth began to seriously switch from firearms to mass accelerator, they also began to sell their old stock of weapons to anyone with money and a zip code. What most considered junk, the supernatural factions rushed at like sharks at a wounded prey. The great nations of Earth saw their now outdated arsenal being dismantled and split between the various group of the hidden world who were more than happy to scavenge anything that could fire and switch its load to disruptor munitions. Fourth: enchanted powder based weapons, all kinds confounded, are way more numerous than their eezo based counterpart. As in there is none. Fifth: There is simply a strange form of glamour and attraction that old firearms have and that the boxy modern mass accelerator doesn't have yet and that disruptor bullets have probably prevented forever.

Ordo Codex

Gekko

Mages have always made use of guardians in some form or another to protect their Sanctum or during battle. Water spirits hidden inside an innocuous fountain who strangle any who approach, ghost sentinels, demonic hounds, huge statues of animated steel spewing flames, the list goes on. With the development of robotics, first with drones then latter with humanoid mechs, many believed that a cheaper source of reliable guardians would soon be available and free a lot of supernatural resources for other purposes. Many were not happy when they saw the result and even less so when they received what amounted, for most, to a pile of scrap bolted together with the intelligence of a fat rodent and which seemed to have been designed by someone who had no idea of how to make a really effective defense robot rather than some stupid human looking idiot design. Particularly disappointed was the Adamantine Arrow who expected something that could at least hold up against a merc and got something which a disabled child could beat with a stick. It was, oddly enough, a Free Council and Guardian of the Veil collaboration that provided the solution to this problem. Using samples of geth muscles provided by the Guardians, they never revealed how they had obtained them but nobody dared to ask them either, the Free Council began to work on a mech design financed by the three other orders. The end result was shamelessly based on the fictional IRVING, the Free Council never hid it but for most it didn't mattered as the IRVING model, commonly called a Gekko, was a mech years away from the competition. Its physical abilities were at least equal to the ones of its inspiration even if the materials were different, same for its intelligence. With its regular gear, a lone Gekko is more than a match for most merc squads and the typical deployment of three can easely rip through a Mako and annihilate its occupant. A number of batarian pirates had the nasty surprise of seeing two artificial giant legs crash in front of them and flip their transport with a kick. On the defense, the Gekko armor is strong enough to withstand several rocket impacts, those that pass its active defenses at least or, seeing the slowness of modern missiles, the rare one which it cannot dodge. In short, the capability of the Gekko was everything the Orders were looking for and they all began to produce their own models. Commercialization was attempted but the hold of the Seer on the System Alliance higher-up and Earth nations were enough to prevent it. As for the other council species, unbelievable stats coming from an, apparently, small company about a new kind of mech is either met with laughs then a quick trashing of the document or just trashing the document. The stats of the Gekko are available on the extranet.

Ordo Codex

Pentacle Order

The opposite of the Seer of the Throne, the Pentacle Order are composed of five orders; the Adamantine Arrow, the Free Council, the Guardians of the Veil, the Mysterium and the Silver Ladder. They are networks of mages which support each other and share common goals, ideals and values. Once all part of the same organization, they split up long ago a little after the creation of linear time but still have some things in common beyond a shared history like the goal to elevate humanity as a whole to the level of mage and a deep hatred of the Seer of the Throne. Once a member, a mage is expected to promote the values of his order before those of the other as well as follow the internal rules of both the Pentacle Order and the more special one of their respective order. This had led to a rather interesting mystical political scene whose rules change from person to person and is far from the calm sedate scholar's politics one might expect from mages, one where the goal is still the same as with any mage endeavour however, power. Entering an order does mean a certain loss of independence but the danger of the supernatural world is often enough of an argument in itself to convince most of the necessity of it. Even so, the dispersed nature of the Pentacle Orders in the 22th century still mean that individual mages have a lot of freedom in their actions.

Ordo Codex

Adamantine Arrow

The military branch of the Pentacle, it would be easy to say that the Adamantine Arrow share many things in common with the Turians. Their philosophy of putting an emphasis on military thinking and offensive action would certainly indicate so. One could also find it funny to compare them to dumb knights in shining armor based on their ideals of honor and martial merit in an age of mass accelerators and starships. Doing either would be stupid. Since the beginning of its history, before the creation of linear time itself, the Adamantine Arrow has been in a constant state of war against enemies that have always been more numerous and at least as powerful, if not more, then them. Something that only ever happened to the Turian two times and they still tremble at night thinking about it. As for their so-called chivalrous ideals, if they do value honor and martial prowess, what they teach and use is nothing if combat pragmatism. They wouldn't have survived against the hordes of banishers, the machinations of the Seer of the Throne, the fanaticism of the hunters, the myriads of angry ghosts or the infinite number of spirit who haven't what could be called the best of intention toward humanity. Not to mention the number of civil wars or conflict with the other orders.

Training

The Adamantine Arrow has always strived to train all of its members in all of the aspects of war. The perfect Adamantine Arrow should be able to win a fist fight with a krogan, counter STG spies, outmanoeuvre a turian general, win a negotiation with a volus and stun an asari with his knowledge. This is, of course, impossible and the order knows it. Not everyone can be the best tactician and the best warrior at the same time. Even so, the order tries to train all of its members to the equivalent of N1 level while encouraging them to study things like economy, archaeology, military tactics, ecology, literature or other intellectual disciplines. This again is another difference with the Turians who seem to focus a lot more on the battlefield aspect of war. For the Adamantine Arrow, everything is war.

Ressources

The Adamantine Arrow is without a doubt the most armed of the five orders. Their contact in the various militaries of the world allowed them to grab a really large portion of the ex-Russia and ex-U.S arsenal during the massive selling, they have the biggest budget financing both entirely Sleepers' weapon company and mage Cabals like _Equilibrium_ or _PulseLight_, the biggest fleet, number of Gekkos as well as the best military trained members. It is some sort of open secret that the order has bunkers hidden on almost all human planets and some alien worlds stacked with enough gear, weapons and vehicles to equip a division. Monetarily speaking, the order revenues are kept secret but it is known that its own major share in a number of various companies both big and small, some not at all military related, and is one of the main investors of the Sirta Foundation.

Tactic

Due to its size and the nature of its wars, the order focuses mainly on unconventional warfare like guerrilla, hit and run and small-scale action. When you are battling the supernatural, large visible invasions with armies and occupation are the surest way to get your ass kicked. As such, the Adamantine Arrow doesn't have standard formation but rather strategies to use the usual mage group, the Cabal, of between 2 to 6. With vastly different powers, unique members, artefacts, familiars and other resources, each cabal is unique and as such plans involving many must take into count the possible rivalry between them, their unique possibilities and the high independent characteristic of mages. This tends to result into highly loose plans on the surface where each cabal has a lot of initiative to accomplish their objectives. This potentially disastrous state of affair that would see the failures of many plans would they have been made by any other army is counterbalanced by the order tacticians. To be a tactician in the order is a great honor and require many skills be it in diplomacy to deal with internal frictions, fighting experience in case the enemy make a raid on the HQ or the mystical skill to read the mystical landscape of a planet. When the might of the order is unleashed against with them at the head, solar systems tend to disappear.

Ordo Codex

Seer of the Thrones

The mirror of the Pentacle Orders, the Seer of the Throne is a network of mages whose goal is in complete contradiction with the goals of the five orders. Long and stupid story short, the Seer of the Throne want to create a wold where the simple idea of the supernatural is an impossibility. A world which would completely reject vulgar magic and in order to achieve their vision they will kill or corrupt mages, hoard knowledge and suppress any sign of magic as hard as they can. Their hierarchy and history, the few that is known, can be summed up as a massive crazy conspiracy of chronic backstabbers who want to rule over the helpless humans as high lord. Through the ages, they have extended their tentacles into every office of every government of Earth. Throughout all of the 21th century they focused their effort into the scientific domain, mostly in giving every supernatural phenomena an, apparently, scientific explanation. That did managed to reduce the general knowledge of the public on the occult but at least those that now manage to pass the veil, the few, have already a strong willpower. Or at least they are insane enough for willpower not to be a problem to them. Another of their victory was in the 22th century with the Equal Religion Act which taxed every religion in the United North American States based on their size and was a major blow against them. At least it cut the funding and network of many hunters but it is still debated if the trade-off was worth it. As of now in the 22th century, they are the dominant order on Earth if only by a little and one of the main reasons behind the worsening of the occult situation on Earth for if the humans forgot the supernatural, the supernatural didn't stopped preying on them. The United North American States and the Chinese People's Federation are considered mostly Seer territory and their government majorly under the Seer boots while the European Union is still mostly under the control of the Orders. Fortunately, they are far from an all-powerful organization and if their grip is mostly felt on human main world, it is tenuous at best on colonies and anyplace lacking a major political or industrial structure. It is widely accepted that if they weren't constantly planning against one another for meaningless positions in their hierarchy they would have long ago trampled the Orders, though the inverse is also true in some way.


	4. Search and Travel

Okay, the story is finally starting. It's at a crawl pace but still. Next chapter will see the indroduction of Shepard.

aDarkOne: Dextro blood taste like a battery acid

sarcastic wold: New world of darkness with maybe some elements from the old.

flaze: I had one but he disappeared. If you are volunteering yourself, then I will gladly accept your help.

Warpwind: Tried my best to balance the two side, hope it's better.

_Atlantean_

**Spirit Tongue**

* * *

**Chapter 2**: Insane search and travel for the insane

**Presidium**

"Sir, please, you are no..."

Nihlus pushed the asari aside, not even bothering to look at her.

"Spectre business, out of my way!"

He swiftly passed through the lobby, ignoring the protestations of the acolytes and the look of the clients, before barging into the chamber weapon draw.

"Where is she!?"

The Consort was sitting quietly on her couch, sipping the fuming content of a mug.

"Could you please specify?"

He wasn't in the mood for that kind of talk.

"The girl, where is she? Now!"

"She left some time ago and will not be back for at least a week. Please, calm yourself."

At this point, Nihlus pistol was only a centimeter away from her head, his finger unprofessionally and dangerously on the trigger.

"It's a little too late for that I am afraid, I am far passed the point of being calm. You are going to tell me right now all you know and I will decide when this conversation is over, are we clear?"

The asari sighed before calmly putting down her tass cup and flicking her wrist. Immediately, the Spectre felt as if the entirety of his body had been dumbed at the bottom of the ocean, feeling extreme pressure on every inch of his body to the point of being completely incapable of even the slightest movement, not even a blink. The veil of light blue covering his vision left no doubt to what had just happened to him.

"Spectre Nihlus, you would do best to reconsider your position and who you are talking to before uttering such threat."

She shifted her position, getting out of the line of sight of Nihlus pistol before releasing him from the stasis at the same moment the door to her chamber opened to reveal five other asari wielding assault rifle all aimed at him.

"And so I will ask you again, please relax, put your gun aside and sit down."

Nihlus was furious and irritated, but he hadn't survived as a Spectre by being stupid. He knew a no-win situation when he saw one. Still breathing hard he lowered his weapon, finger off the trigger, but his hand still tightly gripping the handle.

"Good. Aliza, Chanta, Leta, Noekam, Valyris, it's okay. You can leave us now."

Her voice was calm and confident, enough so that none of the five asari questioned her decision and simply stepped back and closed the door.

Still standing on the same spot, the turian's muscle had finally begun to loosen after having been strained since his face-to-face with Helena. The feeling of helplessness he had felt during that short moment had shaken him to his core, something he was not ready for. Facing a cold predator, his body had reacted by turned back to its primitive fight state and had been stuck into it since then. Now his organism had stopped being overflowed with adrenaline and the kickback was hitting him hard. His pistol dropped on the ground while he dropped on his knee, trembling.

"How?" His voice was barely over a murmur.

"How what?"

"How can you stay calm and sane while knowing that there is monster walking around us?"

Gently, the asari matriarch pulled the turian into a hug. A small part of Nihlus mind revolted against this childish gesture, the rest of his mind beat this part with fury and gladly accepted it.

"The same way I stay calm when an agent from a dictatorial trio with a killing permit come into my room and the same way I am not constantly enraged at the idea that million of my sisters are being kept as slave. There has always been monsters walking around us, now there is simply other kinds. Each new race bring its own after all. The universe hasn't changed or become more dangerous, you simply have discovered some new dark scary place in it. In time, you will get used to it."

"I really doubt that."

"I do not. Simply continue to trust your skills and abilities like before and I can assure you that things will improve."

They spent some time in this position, Nihlus slowly letting the tension of his body fade away. Calmly, she sat him on the couch and poured him a hot drink.

"Feeling better?"

"In a way, yes."

"Good. Drink."

He did, letting the warm feeling flow into him.

"Consort."

"Yes?"

"The girl...?"

She sighed. "I do not usually reveal information about my clients."

"Just, tell me please, what exactly is she?"

"I can honestly say that I don't know, which is quite surprising. If you are wondering if she is dangerous, yes. Though I cannot say precisely how, if only that it is not exactly in the traditional way."

Yeah, he had gotten pretty much the same impression before.

"What do you do together?"

She let out a little laugh.

"If it worries you so much, no, we are not planning some grand evil plan to take over the Citadel and the Council."

He had, actually, entertain the possibility for an instant.

"It will probably come to you as a surprise, but we mostly talk. In fact, it would be more true to say that I am the one who mostly talk. She his an incredible listener."

"So she is your Consort?"

"In a way, yes. It is an incredibly refreshing feeling. Once she also sang for me."

"Sang?"

"Yes. It was one of the most beautiful and sad experience I have ever had."

"Wait, sad? Why?"

"Because it is what I felt. The song was perfect, inhumanly so, and yet in was one of sadness and sorrow. A tale of melancholy and gloom powerful enough to, as human say, make stones weep."

"That's a metaphor right?"

She didn't answer, simply taking another sip.

"You should go Spectre and continue your investigation if you really feel like so. Simply stay confident in your abilities and try your best not to die due to your ignorance. Also, it would be best for you to remember that not all monsters are criminals."

* * *

Nihlus managed to dragged himself to one of the numerous hideouts he had created for himself on the Citadel over the years. The one he chose was somewhere on Bachjret Ward, some closed room that could only be accessed by passing through the tunnel system coursing under the livable part of the Ward. There, protected by the best electronic security systems and military level armored door and walls, Nihlus could have survived for as long as two years. Yet, even with his pistol at his side and a shotgun on his desk, the Spectre felt as helpless as an unarmed recruit facing a krogan warlord in full battlegear. This state of mind might have something to do with the recent events, especially the message written on the screen of his secure room computer saying: 'tips n.1. Less electronic security, more heavy mechanical one'_._ He had reviewed all of his security systems five times and hadn't been able to find a single trace of intrusion. Now, his face lit by the orange glow of the screen, Nihlus was desperately trying to stay calm. First thing, he needed information. Here, he was clearly walking blind. Ignoring the slight shaking of his hand, he opened an extranet browser and entered the few things he knew about the thing called Helena. After all, every search must start somewhere and the extranet is one of the biggest archive of data in existence. '_Long lived. Extremely fast. Monster Drink blood. 47 089 results'._ Okay, maybe a little more tags would help. '_Human. 18 534 results'._ Okay, not quite there yet. It was less than before and if it had been a normal investigation at this point Nihlus could have called upon other resources to rummage through it. That is, again, if he even knew what he was looking for and wanted some people to think he had turned insane. Sow how to reduce that again. '_Fiction?_ _182 results'. _Great. Now... what the hell is a vampire?

Hours later, the turian was still as edgy as before. The information he had been able to found were incomplete, vague and sometime even contradictory. The worst part might have been that the few serious sources he had read were all referencing books. Not datapad, actual paper books that had never been digitized and updated to the extranet. It was enraging to be time and time again redirected toward some books stored on some library on Earth. Anyhow, from the few bits of reliable sounding info he had found, the word was best used lightly when talking about something humanity considered a monster of fiction, Helena probably was something that modern humanity commonly referred as a vampire and which had a thousand different origin, one for nearly every culture on Earth. It was hard to say of all the stories talked about different creature entirely and thus it was one giant family of bloodsucking creature or if all the stories had been inspired by the same beast. In any case, a few things seem to come in most legends. The lust for blood, be it by drinking it or devouring the flesh of their victims the texts are a little devised on that point, nocturnal tendencies and sometime extreme vulnerability to sunlight, some kinds of long life or immortality and a long list of various powers. In the end, he had made four steps forward and three back.

His next moves was to try to recuperate the security footage of the warehouse, maybe they could provide more data on what kind of blood sucker he had talked to. Unfortunately, even with his free access he could only manage to find the record from a single camera that monitored one of the catwalk. He watched the Blue Sun merc get control of the place through it and set up patrol. Then, their reaction to Helena entrance and subsequent panic when, he guessed, she beheaded the asari. Followed them opening fire on the unnaturally fast target that proceeded to jump the distance between the ground and the catwalk before charging directly at them. It's here that it became interesting because Nihlus could clearly see that the two mercenaries hit the fuzzy blur that was Helena at least ten times directly into the chest without provoking a single noticeable reaction from her. That had just made 99% of his armament useless and he had the distinctive idea that assaulting her with only a knife would only lead to his head being removed from his shoulder. Hum, maybe there was a good reason why those three were using those odd weapon. Anyway, he was pretty sure there had been more than one camera in this warehouse so that meant that someone had erased all the other and left this one for a reason. His guess was that this was some kind of warning and damn was it a good one. Probably the fourth more effective one he had ever seen. Of course, they had exactly the inverse effect on him.

* * *

He spent the next hour thinking. Helena had been pretty clear in demonstrating just how much power she had and how much powerful she was herself. But, she had not killed him while she could so it meant that like pretty much every criminal he had dealt with, she didn't wanted her activities and most probably existence poked at, what the death of a Spectre certainly would bring. Though, seeing how she had dispatched the asari he should probably not go against her unless absolutely needed. She probably would have no qualm about killing him in that case. In any case, it shouldn't come to it because she really wasn't a menace to the Council Species. He decided to put her in the same bucket as the few asari warlord of the Terminus systems, old, powerhouse, influential and bored. The next question was: what were the three others? Were they the same thing Helena was? If he was to go by instinct, and it was pretty much the only thing he had left, he would say no. The feeling he had had when talking to her was like being stared at by some old predator, there was no real emotion in her eyes and her body language was as expressive as the one of a cadaver. The couple on the other hand seemed much more alive for a lack of better word yet there was still something off with them, even at distance. Really, with the outfit they wore it's a wonder they can be discreet at all. Though, it probably was for the same reason why he could only recall the last girl in no other terms than the visit he had made on Amaranthine. The snow covered landscape he had seen there was one of the most beautiful spectacle of his life. Yet, would he have gotten out of his transport, even with his armor, and he would have frozen to death in less than ten minutes.

With that in mind, he gained access to the thousand of camera constantly monitoring the Presidium and isolated the few he needed. It wasn't that hard at all now that he was in the comfort of his room to rewind up to his visit and observe the three arriving. Yeah, as if. From far away, he was only able to see the two human females, the man behind completely absent from the video, even when applying all the filter he could think of. Then, whenever he tried to zoom on the two human he could see the image would slightly blur or distorts just enough so that the details of their figure remained indiscernible. He could see their hair color, the shape of their head, their built, etc. But impossible to say anything about their eye's color or any marks or details of their clothes. Apparently this investigation was going to be infuriating all the way through. Though, he was wondering if this particular problem was due to a special condition or if someone had actually managed to hack C-Sec. Wouldn't be the first time. He spent another four hours painfully tracking the three human movement through the Citadel until they disappeared on a zone of the dock which had been quite blatantly purged of camera.

At this point, the stress and fear he had felt before had been replaced by a frustration and anger. Not only had he been unsuccessful into discovering the identities of basically anyone, but his best source of information on the whole things were movies, teens forums and a couple of wiki. The worst was probably that a part of him was still considering the whole thing to be completely insane. It screamed at him that he was hallucinating or dreaming or anything else rather than a universe where things like real monster walked around and superstitions were reality. A world were the biggest threat was a krogan on blood rage or a Dreadnought main cannon, not some kinds of immortal blood drinking corpse. Spirits... oh shit spirits. If spirits turned out to exist he would have a heart attack. He needed a drink, lots of them.

* * *

"Nihlus, I'm really not okay with that. If you had contacted me earlier I could have assembled a team and..."

"And what Venari? For what exactly would you have arrested them? Not being real?"

"I could have arrested this Helena." His tone was tense.

"She would have killed the few officers close enough would have gotten butchered and then what?"

There was grumbling on the other end of the communication.

"Pallin, I know you don't like this, but this kind of investigation is not one that can be accomplished by following your rules and you knew it."

"That doesn't mean I must like it. At least let me bring in the Consort for interrogation."

"Pallin, you wouldn't be able to survive the scandal even if Sparatus was supporting you and I doubt you would be very helpful once they ban you to some frontier colony. If you really want to help me, try to find if there was bodies found with marks on their neck and lacked a lot of blood."

"Hum. I'll do what I can."

"Thanks."

Nihlus ended the communication and picked up his second bottle of the night. With twelve hours left before boarding the Normandy, he had plenty of time to relax.

* * *

**Spirit world – Somewhere on an infinite ocean.**

Remember when I said that the _Firefly_ looked like an old ship or when I referred to the _Firefly _like a conscious thing. Yeah, that's because he is, or she. Actually I am not sure spirits have gender, but I will go with a he. _Firefly_ actually started his life as a sloop called the _Revenge _before being cannibalized to repair another ship also called the _Revenge_, figure they weren't really creative back then, it was then officially lost to the sea for a couple of hundreds of years and really fell into some crack of reality and navigated the Shadow world seas for a couple of hundred years. The Adamantine Arrow found it at the start of World War two and used it with great efficiency until the Winter War at the beginning of the 22th century. Lilith found it and with my help and Raven one's we were able to extract him from his ice prison. Then, we brought it back into the material world and used him to build the inside of the _Firefly_. The result, a space ship with the ability to enter the Shadow world and sail its ocean, amongst other. It wasn't a unique case of course, but having your ship being an awaken spirit is something you don't scoff at.

So, how does it work? You first need to find a loci, a place of spiritual energy, and then pass through it. An old battlefield, place where major ship crashed, a comet, space stations, astronomical phenomena, the Relays, even the Citadel itself. Easy. Though, phasing through one of the Citadel reflective arm is not the most discrete thing in the universe to do. Once inside the Shadow world the _Firefly_ changed, some of its part taking their old 17th century appearance. The hull took on a wooden looks and a U shape, the pilot usual control shifted to an old wheel, several masts were now aligned on top of the ship with grand white sails and many more discrete changes. Humanoid forms roamed the deck and the structure of the vessel, they weren't the crew of the ship, they were the ship manifested.

Now, a good question would be: why use the Shadow world seas to go from planet to planet? Seas filled with leviathan the size of moon, storm with literally living lightning, waves the size of skyscrapers and tornado able to shred adamantium into confetti, where sometime the sun was strong enough to cook egg, ghost ship roamed free and a thousand other dangers awaited. Well, there are many advantages. For example, no need to worry about depressurization or oxygen in here, most of the time. Also, if you have a good current the time travel between planets is actually shorter than by using the Relays network and undetectable by the usual systems. I mean, we basically landed on Eden Prime not by entering the atmosphere like a regular ship would have done but by emerging from a lake. So, in favour of those benefits, we could take the journey through the universe were everything is somewhat alive and the ocean has a mind and powers on par with Yog-Sothoth.

So, exposition over for now.

* * *

**Firefly – The Library – In sight distance of Eden Prime shore – Chess**

"And my queen takes yours and check" Lilith seized the black piece by its head and put it beside the chessboard.

"Okay, hum, I'm dead now right?"

"Well no, you can move your king left or right." She said with a wide smile.

"Yeah, and next turn I will be checkmate?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"So yeah I'm dead." With a flick of the finger I toppled my king. It hits the ground with the sound of a metal crown crashing on marble floor, literally. "That's what now, 22 to 0?"

"23 to 0 actually."

I leaned back on the wooden chair, sighing deeply. "Sometime I wonder why I even try."

"Bah, don't worry. One day you'll manage to break the twenty rounds barrier." She took a drink from the beer at her side. "But now that we are over, I wanted to talk to you."

"Hum?"

"I got a call that concerns you."

"Me? What did Helena launched a blood hunt on me?"

"Much worse actually. It was a girl with the Guardian."

"Oookay, they don't usually call before making you disappear so I will make a guess and say that it's not something I did."

"You're pretty much right. Apparently the chief of C-Sec and a Spectre, Nihlus, have started to get curious. Normally this is not the kind of thing that would even make them react but with their position those two could be problematic."

"So what, only an advice?"

"Yep, keep away from the Citadel or at least from anywhere except the docks for some time and be discreet." She put a lot of emphasis on the last word.

"...What? I'm a paragon of discretion."

"As much as a tank in a glass store. Seriously, do you really need to dress like that you and Raven?"

Yeah, in hindsight it might have been a little too much. "Oh come on, we were outside of human space and I wanted to be a little more flashy than usual, it's not like a shot a fireball in front of a camera." Not that anyone would remember if I ever did.

"Woaw, relax. Just, next time why don't you leave the sword here and try to find a more discreet coat."

Dammit, the Doctor never had that kind of problem. Then again, he never did really try to be discreet.

"Yeah, your right. Maybe the sword was a little too much."

"A little yes." Her expression was one of amusement. "But then, I'd rather that our tank stay as armed as possible so."

She picked a small object from her pocket and threw it at me. I caught the small ring, the one that usually protected my mind.

"?"

"I added a little Incognito spell to it, maybe now people will stop looking at you like you were an escaped from the asylum who has just raided a movie set."

"Really?" She nodded. "Nice, thank you."

"You're welcome. Though, still try to stick to the shadows and tone down your outfit a little."

"Oh, come on. I always wanted to try to sneak up in CMC power armor."

"Ah ah, funny. But I was serious."

"Me too."

She shot me a glare capable to freeze oil.

"Just kidding. Where would I find a CMC anyway?"

"I don't know but the Adamantine Arrow and the Free Council sure have a lot of joint project these days." With a shrug, she rose from her chair. "Anyway, we're entering a stream now so get ready."

The door closed behind her as I finished storing the game, the faint protest of the pieces muffled by the heavy wood of the board. The room I was had its wall covered by heavy shelves which themselves were heavy with 500 years old books, millennial scrolls and clay tablets. It wasn't the only thing present on the tablets though as I could see statues and others small artifacts between the written knowledge and sometime replacing entire shelve were large paintings and drawings. The one I approached was a copy of an illustration by Ludovico Ariosto's, _Ruggiero rescuing Angelica. _In color, all the attention was given its central element, a beautiful hippogriff. His feathers and wings were ash black and slowly turned into gold at the tip while his fur was mottled white. Protecting his legs, chest, face and shoulders were detailed pieces of armor with golden engraving. All the colors and the talents made it seem like he was about to jump out of the paper which, in a sense, was true.

I placed my left thumbs on his beak.

"Wake up old friend, there is a sky for you to fly in."

I felt a sharp pain as the skin of my thumb was cut open and my blood dripped on the drawing only to be almost immediately absorbed by the paper along with a small part of my own energy. I am kind of ashamed to say that the name for a mage magical energy is actually called mana but then it also makes some kind of sense since the name has been ingrained into pop culture. Anyway, a small part of my mana was sucked away. Then, awaken by my small sacrifice, the hippogriff on the picture began to slowly move and wriggle, shaking off the last shred of the slumber it had been in for the last weeks before jumping forward from the paper to my skin. No matter how many times I do it, the feeling stays pretty much the same. It is like if a thin ribbon was slowly being slide between two layers of my skin, itching continually as it did, then when completely inside me, a constant feeling of pressure going outward. A this point, the hippogriff had the appearance of a very complex tattoo that moved over my body as it wanted with a sensation of mild heat as it did.

"So, ready for some action **Furioso**?"

Immediately, I felt as if two talons had just grabbed my shoulders and tried to lift me off the ground. That meant yes.

* * *

**Shadow World – Eden Prime**

I left the library, passing through the metal corridors usually lighted by white light and now by living flames stuck to the wall. I exited on the main deck light by the fleeing night of dawn. Only a couple of moments ago there was only the eternal night of the ocean that surrounded us, but as we approached the shore, a blazing sun had appeared on the horizon. The geography of the Spirit world is truly mind boggling. You have a flat dimension were gravity is more of a guideline than an actual rule, none of the chemisery that rule the fallen world, a place were planets are like giant island yet you can walk on them like if they were round and finally and a sun that disappeared behind the horizon, but only when you are on land. As such, this land's sun was not really rising as it was already set high on the sky, it was more us approaching a lit place while coming from the dark.

I watched the river flowing around us from the side of the deck. The Shadow world might take some time to remember something, but once it has it takes a really long time to make him forget it as the scenery that unveiled around us proved it. Great plains of tall grass brushed by winds spirits and sometime revealing hidden odd burnt corpse, on the distance shadowy stormy shapes that moved just at the limit of my vision over the hills, then exploded into violence against unseen enemy with thunder and lightning. The river, like the rest of the land, possessed small hints of the horrors that had happened fifty thousand years ago in the small red tint the water had and the occasional alien skull that popped at the surface to glare at me. In a way, it was also a good analogy for the Spirit world in general, fascinating and beautiful from afar and savage from up close.

We sailed up the river until we reached a loci in the form of a large lake surrounded by strange animal shapes who each drank the water. Though it was less the water they drank and more the essence that accumulated here that they looked for. At most they gave us a side looks before going back to drinking. Once in the middle of the lake, the _Firefly_ suddenly plunged downward through the water yet didn't produce a single wave. I only had maybe two seconds to see the mirror surface of the lake rushs toward me before I hit the surface and emerged on the real surface of Eden Prime. It was kinda like passing through an ice-cold waterfall with the sensation of air rushing inside your lungs and the shock to your system but without getting wet. I took in the glorious spectacle of the sun baked landscape as the _Firefly_, now back in starship form, hovered sideways and landed beside the lake.

"Time to go to work."

* * *

We took out the _Seagull_, a modified VTOL design that dated back to the 22th century, the last generation before the implantation of element zero into vehicle design, who got its name due to the form of its wing or something like that. Powered by a hydrogen engine, it could transport eight fully armed people plus one Gekko, one pilot, one co-pilot/engineer/loader, was armed with two M61 vulcan cannon under its wing capable of 360 degree, two 25 rockets launchers, a forward dual 40mm cannon, four anti-tank missiles and two side M134 Minigun. By Adamantine Arrow standards, it is considered a light load.

The ship unusual design and armament would certainly attract many kinds of unwanted attention if not for two things. First, a Prime and Mind spell woven together giving the VTOL the appearance of a standard System Alliance shuttle as long as you don't look at it too close, which the Mind part ensured. Second, like any respectable vehicle used by mages for anything important, it was undetectable by electronic devices of all kind.

We all climbed inside the bird save for Alice who stayed behind to guard the ship. Personally I think she could have come and cover our heist with a blizzard but Lilith made a point about a blizzard on a temperate planet in the middle of summer is not something that can be qualified as discreet. I took the left side while the captain took the right one, Raven and Lizie sat on the pilot and co-pilot seats.

"So, Lizie." Raven started as she made the usual pre-start check-up.

"Yes?"

"You and your sister are pretty close, right?" The tone was seemingly innocent, but we all knew better.

"I think you already know the answer to that question."

"Yeah, but just to be sure, when at night do you..."

"Raven for the last time I have not shared my sister's bed since she was four and scared of the dark." There was a deep exasperation in her voice.

"Pfu, I know that."

"And yet you constantly ask."

"That's because I hope that one day you two will reclaim your sexy french heritage and that I will be able to post it on the extranet."

"Raven, should that ever happen it's you and Solomon who will be on the extranet."

"So you agree, there is a chance for it to happen?"

This little banter could have lasted a lot longer without Lilith intervention, or so I thought.

"Okay ladies. Back to the task at hand please."

"Just wait a second, what I originally wanted to ask was: did your sister talk with you about her relation with the Consort." Raven pleaded.

There was a pause where you could only hear a slight sizzle on the com.

"I'll allow it."

Lizie grunt was heard over the sound of the starting engines. "Merde."

"So, did she?"

"... yes."

"And?"

"Tu sais, souvent je me demande si tu n'est pas vraiment une pie-garou. And I will take her words to the grave".

"So that means there is something going on?"

"Raven, vas en enfer."

We flew for maybe two hours, yeah we didn't emerge that close to the objective. We all geared up, meaning for me and Lilith to summon our shield to reinforce our armor - Though, since Lilith's one instinctively make her perform tweaks in the spatial tissue around her in order to get out of the way of arm, maybe shield is not the best definition. - and fill our many pockets with as many helpful things as possible. You never know what kind of ban a spirit will have. It was also the occasion for Lilith to do a final briefing.

"So, as a reminder, they dug up the beacon only a couple of days earlier which means that it's probably still where they found it. We swoop in, stun everybody there, I throw the beacon through a portal to the client and rush back to the _Firefly_. All in all, shouldn't take us more than an hour."

Her spurs clicked against the metallic floor as she spoke. Like me, there was a living tattoo of a Pegasus moving on her body.

"After that, we go right back to the rendez-vous point and pocket the reward. Any question?"

"Yeah, do prothean beacon generally produce giant storm around them?"

In front of us, barely five hundred meters away was an enormous mass of black clouds illuminated by constant lightning that thundered in the distance. There was something unsettling about these clouds, even from so far away. A normal person would have dismissed this as a simple bad foreboding, all of us knew better. Those heavy clouds had some unnatural quality to them that sent chills down my spine, as if they wanted to eat us and shred us into pieces. Shadowy forms were twisting themselves inside the cover of the mass of clouds, with eyes of pure hunger and lightning teeth.

"Okay. Maybe this will be a little more complicated than I thought."

We were all cramped into the cockpit, looking at the disaster in front of us.

"What's the size of the storm?" Lilith asked.

"Oh yeah, of course, let me just check the storm radar and give you an answer." Corvina sarcastic answer shocked no one. Still, I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Raven, please. Can you make a guess?"

She sighed. "From experience, maybe five or six kilometers diameter. Also no, we can't go over it."

"So." Elizabeth asked. "Do we go in or not?"

Lilith actually took a moment to think her answer, that's rare. I guess she was weighting the risk versus the payment.

"Yes, take us in."

As we plunged toward the black storm, I could not help myself to think that there was something or someone missing from this whole situation.

* * *

**Pegasus Veil**

Stuck around a Mass relay were a small geth fleet and the imposing form of Nazara doing the synthetic equivalent of raging. The reaper, with a small help from the geth, was furiously trying to hack the relay network as something had reprogrammed it, something that should have been impossible, and was locking the reaper and geth out of human space. They could still use them, but whenever they tried to go into human space, the relay would strand them the farthest away in empty space as possible or simply block them. On one occasion, a geth probe was sent to an empty system inside human space and was sent against a moon at FTL speed. For Nazara, this situation was both extremely troublesome and extremely terrifying. What unknown species had the knowledge to reprogram the relay network while staying completely hidden and why would they choose to progress the human race? A race with that kind of power should be the dominating race in the galaxy, following the same path the Prothean had, not stay hidden. There was something wrong here, something that had not been planned for and that was scarring him. Nothing had ever been unexpected or out of the defined parameters in all of the cycles.

Right now, he was forced to trust his turian agent with a company of geth to retrieve the geth and he didn't like at all to have to rely entirely on inferior species to accomplish something. Nazara though all of that in less than a second while continuation his hacking attempt. As long as the mysterious race didn't interfere, they would be able to take back control in less than ten days. Then, to encrypt the network again so that it would be, once again, impossible to hack. Surely, the race responsible for the hack must have needed years to accomplish this feat.

* * *

**Ordo Codex**

**The Relay network hack**

After the discovery of the Reaper threat, many amongst the mage were afraid of the literal revolving door that the relays were inside human territory for them. The Hierarch of London, when he learned of the relay in the Sol system, simply called a Mysterium member that was amongst the crew of the scientific ships studying the relays and asked him if he could do something. It took the Obrimos a grand total of ten minutes to bypass the Leviathan security system and cancel the Reaper special access to the relays while preventing them from using them. Later, the Geth species was added as a precaution. The Batarian were also added for a time but since they are sometime used by the Seer of the Throne or other factions, notably during the infamous Skyllian Blitz, their interdiction tends to be removed swiftly by said other parties.

* * *

"Tu sais, souvent je me demande si tu n'est pas vraiment une pie-garou.

You know, sometimes I wonder if you aren't really a weremagpie.

"Raven, vas en enfer."

Raven, go to hell.

Seagull VTOL inspiration but with the two seats side-by-side and access to the transport bay : art/VTOL-195312841


	5. Eden Prime

Hi, sorry for the delay. This time I am trying a multi POV kind of thing as we embark on the game main storyline. Not sure if I will continue with that or a simple binary one. Nihlus don't really get any time but that's for the next chapter which will start with him. As for Shepard, sorry for those who thought she was going to save everyone but she is gonna spend a lot of time just two steps behind everyone while on Eden Prime.

BNG1911: Yes. Though I am not sure if the finding of the beacon will awake him or change him. Right now, the challenge is getting him there the old fashion way.

aDarkOne: Oh yes, that and a lot of other things.

Monshroud: ... I promise nothing yet.

Also, I got a PM from goodpie2 and was wondering how many of you would like a brief summary of the WoD universe from say, the 21th century to now in the form of a timeline.

_Atlantean_

**Spirit Tongue**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Eden Prime**

_Shadow storm, Gauntlet guardians, tin soldiers and mercenary mages  
_

**Solomon**

The VTOL did a 40 degrees side-roll as another shadowy form impacted the left wing. It would have sent us tumbling around if it wasn't the twelfth time it had happened already in the last fifteen minutes. Also, the safety belt.

"God dammit!"

In front of me, Lilith ripped the radio off its support.

"Raven. How much longer?"

"Well, since the electronics are telling me that we are currently going at two kilometers an hour and flying two hundred meters underground, I'd say a lot."

"Can't you go down? Some place calmer?"

"You mean lower than minus two hundred meters?"

Another hit rocked the aircraft, striking the right wing this time. I interposed in the conversation before we all came crashing down.

"Raven, please. Any idea?"

"... You two could jump out."

"What!?"

"Listen. This storm is making me do circle in him and each time I try to steer toward the center there is some kind of twisted spirit that ram me. You two could go out and fight them for a minute while a pass through."

"Are you kidding?"

"Hey, we do need to find this beacon and the best way for that now is to split the party in order to cover more ground. You two are big bad mages, you'll be okay."

I sighed. "When I think about other guys who just have to offer flowers..." I turned to Lilith. "So boss, your call."

She shook her head. "Why can't anything ever be simple for us."

That meant yes.

x

We opened the side doors and instantly I felt as if the wind was trying to grab me and throw into the air. It lashed against my back with such force it took all of my strength to not be pushed over the edge, acting like a wild animal in rage lashing out against me.

"You are sure about this Raven?!"

"No!"

"Ah, okay! Just to be sure!"

Through the shifting dark clouds and screaming winds I saw the form of a bird of black smoke forming. It was not black as in the color, but simply by the fact that it seemed to absorb light itself, a hole in the world that was coming right for us. His scream was as him, not piercing or ear bleeding, just silence, pure silence. For a brief second I couldn't even hear the sound of my own heart.

"Okay..." I turned toward Lilith. "When you're rea..."

"Allons-y!" And she jumped.

"Well then. Geronimo!"

x

I jumped into the storm, battered left and right by the violent winds and tumbling without any control. Up and down lost any meaning as all I could see were dark and grey clouds and the sound of the _Seagul_ engines speeding away. Then, the feeling of something sliding under my skin and extracting itself from me followed by a blinding light and the deep feeling that something old and missing had come back to the world. It was a nice feeling. The next instant I landed on _Furioso_ saddle.

"Ouf, can't say there was a lot of occasion I was more happy to see you."

He answered with a joyous cry that pierced through the darkness like a ray of sunlight.

"Now where is this damn bird?"

I got my answer when all became quiet and a wave of cold hit me from above. A whole flock of void birds was circling over me, plunging down toward _Furioso _and me. Idiots.

I drew my sword. "You mindless beasts. Do you know what happen when you challenge a master of Force in the middle of a thunderstorm?"

Lightings stuck the pillar of dark smoke that was the birds, making them burst into flames and fly away with silent screams. It did not helped them much as I seized the fires with my will and made them jump to the closest creatures, filling the sky with burning monsters falling around.

"You get Thunderstruck!... god that was bad. Mental note, never do that again."

Under me, the smoke reformed into an enormous bird, his wingspan over six meters and his body the size of a hover-car.

"Ah, great. A real challenge!"

_Furioso_ charged down with a cutting scream and the smoke monster charged up with deep silence.

* * *

**SSV Normandy**

Victoria Jane Shepard, Normandy's XO, strolled down the command deck toward the bridge.

"1500 k is good; your captain will be pleased."

The voice of the turian sounded clear in front of her, his form as rigid as ever even when he turned around and began walking away. As he passed her, she could feel his eyes on her, focused as if he was trying to burn holes into her. She didn't take it personal; he had been like that with everyone on the ship. As if he suspected they were going to suddenly grow claws and jump him. Hum, probably took the rumors of Shanxi too seriously. In any case, she turned her attention to the little back and forward between the pilot and the... staff lieutenant?"

"... Only an idiot believe the official story."

"The Council don't send Spectre on shakedown run." She interjected.

"Unless there is something much more important on Eden Prime."

Weird, she was sure he was going to say something else. She was going to question his reasoning when Anderson called him so instead she turned toward Alenko.

"Lieutenant."

"Yes commander?"

"Mind explaining to me what you are doing sitting there?"

"... hum. I... am keeping the seat warm?"

"Go back to your post Lieutenant and next time just stand instead of taking the co-pilot place."

"Yes commander."

"Tell commander Shepard to meet me in the com room for a debriefing."

"You get that commander?"

"On my way."

Victoria turned around and started walking. What did Anderson really want?

**Communication room**

"You people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"

"Of course." What was he insinuating?

"Hum, even without the others?"

"The who?" She raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean the Council races?"

He fixed her for a moment, his alien expression unreadable to her.

"I see. Never mind."

... What the heck was that! She was about to ask him just in what kind of shit he was being all mysterious about when Anderson walked into the room. Dammit.

"Captain! We've got a problem."

Joker comment interrupted Anderson.

"What's wrong, Joker?"

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!"

"Bring it up on screen."

Anderson, Nihlus and Shepard turned toward the large holographic screen floating in the air. The first thing they noticed was the deafening sound of the wind, almost like a constant loud scream. Then, the almost unnatural cover of sick dark cloud that casted a sort of smoking darkness on the ground. These two facts were so striking that it is only after that they noticed the gunfire. The shaking head camera showed several marines shooting at dark animalistic form that seemed to jump in the background. The squad was obviously panicking because there is no way real soldiers would just stand in open ground like that unless they were idiots. After one more tumble, what seemed to be an officer grabbed the man helmet.

"We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: heavy casualties! We can't... arg!"

A rat the size of a forearm had jumped on the man shoulder, trying to bite away the softer armor around the neck joint and apparently succeeding. The man grabbed it with both of his hand, struggling to take it off before managing to throw it away.

"-eed evac! They came out of nowhere. We nee-"

He didn't had the time to finish his sentence as a... thing, lunged at him and dragged him away. The thing was like a mix between a man and some canine creature. No skin but a thick black and gray fur, long oily hair, pierced wolf ears, knives like claws, chains with hooks around its waist, in all sense of the words a monster that shouldn't exist. Even while knowing this was only a recording they all took a step back from the screen.

"What the hell was that, some kind of new varren?" She exclaimed.

"Probably, yes. But who?" Anderson didn't have to finish his question; they were all thinking the same thing.

Nihlus stayed silent, watching the rest of the film unfold. The cameraman had had the same reaction they had, only tenfold, as well as the rest of the squad. In his panicked running though, he turned the camera toward a gigantic whirlwind of lightning and clouds climbing high in the air and from which a low bass all-encompassing sound could be heard. And then it stopped.

"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing."

x

They all stood there in shock, not really knowing what to do. They were all military men and woman and knew how to deal with combat and other military situations. Giant pillar of cloud and weird monsters, a little less. It was Anderson who recovered the first.

"J... Joker, status report."

"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."

"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."

* * *

The Normandy plunged toward the planet and the now 10 kilometers squares storm, shaken by the powerful winds several miles before actually entering the tempest. Then, at the frontier of it, the spaceship suddenly dropped like a rock a hundred meters before stabilizing again for a couple of seconds before starting to shake and tremble as if being hit repeatedly from the inside and outside.

"Joker what's going on!?"

"Sorry captain but the electronics are freaking out. I just lost the entire eezo core for a second."

"Nothing you can do?"

"I tried everything already. Twice. Whatever this thing is, if we go inside we crash."

"Understood. Land us as close as possible."

x

Victoria and the rest of the team was watching the storm through the open cargo bay, the wind screaming at them through the opening and pushing them away.

"Tell me Lieutenant, you have passed some time on Earth didn't you?"

"Well, I haven't spent a lot of time on Earth recently, sir."

"No matter, lots of reports have qualified Earth as somewhat odd. I was wondering if you could enlighten me on this."

"Sorry sir, I don't really know what to say. I never found anything weird about Earth. Maybe some weird crimes now and then and a couple of crazy situation, but then again every planets has this kind of thing from time to time."

"Hum, I see. Shepard, have you ever been to Earth?"

What the heck were those questions?

"Haven't you already read my profile?"

"Yes. But it doesn't detail every place you have ever been on your free time. Hence my question."

"Then no. My mother is from Earth but I never actually went there. Seems like kind of a boring planet honestly."

"Is that a popular opinion?"

"Jenkins?" Shepard asked.

"Don't know Commander. Never really thought about it sir."

"I see." He nodded. "Tell me, these storms are not a usual thing for this planet are they?"

"Hum, no sir."

For Shepard, this was enough. The revelation that Nihlus was really here in order to evaluate her candidacy as a Spectre was one thing she could deal with and made sense. His temperament up until now had been one of cold stone statue watching everyone like a vulture over a battlefield, which made some sort of sense, but now she felt as if they were only getting bits of an insane conversation that only Nihlus seemed to get.

"Sir, just what exactly are you going at?"

"Nowhere yet commander. And it has nothing to do with neither you nor this mission. Spectre problem."

Okay, that wasn't at all foreboding or mysterious. She was about to push it more when she took a hold of his posture. His hand was tighten around his shotgun, his back held straight, his eyes focused entirely on the storm, he was so tense that when she made a step in his direction he almost jumped backward. Of course, to the casual observer, nothing showed in his expression.

"Are you alright, sir?

He fixed her and for a moment she could almost see something behind his martial eyes. Fear. And then it was gone as fast as it had appeared, masked by his alien expression.

"Focus on the mission Shepard."

Before she could say anything else, Anderson voice toned into the intercom.

"Shepard, you're good to go."

* * *

**Lilith**

With a small shock, _Pegasus _hooves impacted the rock and his wings folded up against my legs. I took a moment to observe the land around me, small hills, rock piles, little valleys with high trees, more hills, the perfect image of a rural landscape as long as you didn't mentioned the almost apocalyptic atmosphere. Yeah, that's the kind of place Solomon was going to love. He probably charged the spirits head on like a madmen rather than simply lead them away. I sighed as I dismounted and picked up my gears from his saddlebag, putting on my brown duster and drawing my M1A from its holster.

Now, what was going on around? I closed my eyes and immediately felt the rush of energy through my mind. It was as if I was brought back high into the air but without the threat of the predatory spirits, observing the area around me. Somewhere far away in front of me I could see a soldier running away from a pack of Hounds. Well, running away… More likely, the pack was toying with her, tiring her before the final strike, typical Hounds behavior, or canine pack actually. Good luck for her. Groups of other creatures roamed the land, twisted and corrupt spirits that poured from the far away tornado and fought each other with a ferocity rarely seen since they had finished with the humans. Okay, this was all well and good but that didn't take me closer to the damn beacon, just took care of the witnesses. I was in the middle of this reflection when another group of soldiers entered my rather large field of view. Three people in armor, black armors. Oh god, System Alliance marines. Of course those jackasses had to come, the guys who insist that all of their soldiers carry five weapons and bring sniper rifle to shoot a target twenty meters away. Dammit, as if the situation couldn't get more confuse these bozo jumped in. They made their way between the hills, stopping a moment to look at two mangled corpses – probably some worker who tried to run – before arriving at a bend.

"Oh please no."

I dispelled the charm in a second and switched to my rifle's scope.

"Tell me you aren't that stupid."

The squad of three apparently was because they approached the kneeling rat-puppet. What is a rat-puppet? A human whose inside have been eaten away by a colony of spirit rats that then use his hollowed corpse like a puppet, making it walk and even talk. Now, it usual circumstance, I could have understood why 'military' people didn't shot him on sight as it is, to human eyes at least, a passable disguise. When the same puppet was eating the inside of a scientist, to me, no shooting him was a sign of utter stupidity. Or at least kneecap the thing. But no, I watched as one of the soldiers approached the thing and addressed him several times before putting – and I still can't believe he did that – his gun back on his back and a hand on the sack of flesh shoulder. I was, to be perfectly honest, kind of flabbergasted. I think this kid has a sort of mental condition and that made me feel pity for him. A normal human dying because of stupidity is one thing, dying because of a brain defect is another one entirely.

x

I took a deep breath, aligned my weapon, exhaled and pressed the trigger three times.

* * *

**Solomon**

_Furioso_ landed on some sort of industrial platform that looked like some of storage area for dig site spaceport. If I remember right, they found this beacon while doing the pre-digging for a new arcologies so it did make sense they wanted to have a spaceport. Now, where were the workers?

"Hey! Anybody here!"

When no-one answered my call, I dismounted _Furioso._

"No damage boy?"

He shook his head with a little offended cry as I began checking his body for any wound.

"Hey, no protest."

In the end, he had got a couple of feathers ruffled and some small cuts, nothing worrisome. Him constantly sliding his head under my coat on the other hand was kind of annoying.

"Yeah, yeah, I know I got hurt. Just stay still and let me get the first-aid kit."

I picked up the kit from his saddlebag, extracting the medi-gel and slapping a little on the cut across my left thigh. Damn, those fucking spirit birds went down at the slightest hit but there was a shit-ton of them. Most of them had broken their talons against my shield or armor but one had gotten particularly lucky and slashed my leg through the muscle. For the few who don't know how it feel to have your leg cut open by a twisted spirits with razor sharp talons and then have to fly away on a gryphon for a good fifteen chased by spirits, it is mildly annoying. Anyhow, thank you ex-Cheiron group for medi-gel. After having treated the rest of my wounds I put back the kit and grabbed a military binocular.

"Now, where the hell is everybody?"

Unless this storm had been going on for far longer than I thought, this place should be crawling with terrified people hiding in the corner, so where the hell where they? I climbed upon a crate with a little help from _Furioso_ and began observing the scenery around me. There was a blanket of darkness covering the land, lightning striking high, clouds blocking the sun, nobody on the horizon nor any rescue at that, and, quite probably the most important details, the giant tornado of energy at the center of all of this. I only hesitated a moment before lifting the Veil with Prime and revealing the true nature of it. From dark and cloudy, the column of air became a vortex of mad energies that was spilling inside reality. Green, red, blue, yellow, it seemed to vomit all of the color of the rainbow with enough intensity to burn my eyes and wash away the land around it. I had never seen such a breach of the Gauntlet. It was worse than an absence of barrier, it was as if something was actively trying to pass through from one world to this one and not quietly. And of course, exactly the day we come here. Sometime I hate being a supernatural.

x

I spun around at _Furioso_ sudden alarmed cry behind me. That was just in time to see the rat-man - man-rat, were-rat, anyway – fly through the air in my direction and tackle me off the crate. We impacted the hard, his weight combined with the shock punching the air out of my lungs. I could feel his claws pushing against the reinforced leather of my coat, digging into my shoulders and keeping me on the ground. His breath smelled of shit, decomposing flesh and other waste that you can only find on the worst dump. His body was sick and unnatural with no fat or muscle between his rib cage and his flesh, long oily fur covering his arm and backside, a long bony tail, pure black eyes two time the side of humans one, a long muzzle, an oversized dentition oozing with putrid slime, a thin cover of tainted fur over his entire face and large animal ears.

"Human, now you die."

His speech was hacked, as if several voices were speaking together but all out of sync and with high pitch voices. Truly unpleasant.

"Urg, go fucking fly away."

The telekinetic push sent him three meters high in the air and crashing down several meters away amongst his friends. Because, of course, he had seen fit to bring along a dozen or so of his human puppet friends armed with sticks, metal pipes and even a couple of mass accelerators. They hesitated for an instant to charge me after having seen their boss being sent flying away, which most certainly saved me because it gave me just enough time to scramble the programs of their eezo weapons and turn them into cheap plastic piece of junk while I stood up. Then, only then did they charge. What a bunch of nice guys.

x

The first puppet rushed me with his assault rifle, swinging it like a bat after it failed to fire, and got his right arm ripped off by _Furioso_'s talons. The skin broke off at the shoulder, letting a wave of dirty and bloody rats fall from the opening and spill on the ground. The smell, if it was possible, was even more horrid than before. But still, it left me just enough time to draw both of my weapons before the rest of the rat suits charged. I burned a foot large steaming hole into the chest of a blond girl in scientist clothes and cut the left legs of a worker with two high powered shot. After that, they were on me and _Furioso_. I slashed the belly of one, making him spill his ratty guts, then another, and another, and another. I hacked and slashed at them, cutting them into ribbons again and again until the only thing left in front of me was a swarm of big rats returned to an animalistic state. Really, as puppets they hadn't a chance against me. They lacked the power and technique needed to hurt me and due to the numerous crates they hadn't the place to pin me down as a zigzagged between them.

x

_Furioso _on the other hand had a little more problem. The first rat had recuperated pretty fast from my push and sneaked around the fight to jump on y friend back. With a scream, he gripped him with his claws and talons, sinking them into his flesh, breaking off feathers and, the worse, biting his neck. My gryphon began to scream and kick, trying to dislodge the weight that was tearing his neck. I rushed in his direction as fast as I could, kicking and stomping the vermin at my feet that moved to stop me. I bashed their skulls as they tried, quite uselessly, to bite my legs and through my boots, but there was just so many of them that it felt like going against a river current. In the end, I was still several meters away when the humanoid rat's claws closed themselves around his neck and crushed _Furioso_'s throat. With a last scream, he fell on the ground, dissolving back into an ink mist that twisted itself into fine ribbons that floated back to me, sliding under my sleeves and my skin.

x

The rat on two feet turned its head on my direction, smiling with broken feathers and blood stuck into his jaw.

"Idiot. You are no **Uratha**, you will now die human."

"An idiot I might be, but human certainly not. I am a mage!"

I raised my sword to the sky. The clouds may not have been naturally formed, but they stills had most of the characteristics of common clouds. My will shot at them, dragging energy from them, packing it and raising it higher than it could have been possible. All of It happened at the speed of thought.

"And you just became annoying."

Sixty-three lightning hit around, striking every rats on the ground and the distasful mutated humanoid three times. Some burst into flames, other exploded while some just fell immobile. The annoying one though, got his left arm burned to a crisp, his right leg muscles shot into spasm so intense they broke is bones, his brain was boiled and melted through his eyes and finally, the gas inside his stomach exploded.

x

I approached the amazingly still living carcass, _Furioso_ laughing at him from my shoulder.

"Fuck you!" He spit in my direction. "I will find you and kill you!"

At this point, he could. After all, spirits are creature of spiritual essence. Though they can sometime manifest into physical form, destroying it simply sent it back to the Shadow with some essence missing. Too bad for him I wasn't going to let this happen.

"Shut up!"

I rammed my sword through his neck and immediately they both began to scream. The spirit because is very essence, what made him whole and exist, was eaten away and _Shadow and Light_ because it was feasting upon the essence of a creature. These were two different kind of scream that would have been extremely disturbing if I hadn't already heard it several time. It was over in less than ten second, the creature soul annihilated and turned to the small pile of dust at my feet.

With a sigh I began to hum as the powerful winds dispersed the rest of his corpse and soul.

"How many roads must a man walk down. Before you call him a man? How many seas must a white dove sail. Before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly. Before they're forever banned?..."

"The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind."

I spun around a second time in an hour, which is exactly twice as much as I like, pistol aimed and sword at the ready. Standing several meters away from me was what seemed to be a women in her sixties, extremely well conserved, with brown silver gray hair, a natural brown skin reinforced from long hours passed under the sun, forest green eyes and who was dressed with deep blue robes. Around her were standing several dire wolves that were looking at me like I was a tasty snack.

"Oh great. Werewolves."

She raised an eyebrow. "A problem?"

"Depends. Did I just broke some kind of ancestral taboo or rule and you now have to hunt me in order to fix my offense? Because if yes I can assure that I will turn this whole place into a burning crater before dying."

"Oh no, nothing of the sort."

"Good."

"In fact, I wanted to talk with you."

* * *

**Lilith**

I followed the soldiers for some time, watching their panicked reactions to my shots and the subsequent death of the rat-puppet in a flurry of vermin. That was fun. They continued to advance through the terrain in what I can only qualify as a sort of haze, passing by several other creatures, many actually Cryptids which was an entirely different kind of weird situation, before reaching the running soldier from before with the... white armor. A white armor in a temperate forest and plain environment. I do not think there is a way for me to truly manifest my frustration and contempt about the current military organisation that is supposed to insure the security of humanity's many colonies. An organisation which seem to mentally regress each time I see some of its members. Anyhow, they made contact with the out of breath soldier and the circling pack of Hound. Good luck because the retard one had three companions now and if those four couldn't manage to deal with a pack of beast while equipped with mass accelerator and hi-tech armor they didn't deserved my bullets.

x

I kneeled behind a rock as _Pegasus _began to dissolve into a whirlwind of white feathers and ink cloud. Time to make contact with Raven. Telepathy is always interesting because, in a normal conversation, you can think your answers or have personal thoughts about the other person, etc. When two winds are linked though, everything you think is immediately known by the other person. To hide something, a feeling, a secret, anything, in this kind of conversation is nearly impossible.

-Raven, everything okay with you?-

-Oh it's you bitch. Took your time.-

-Yeah, yeah, fuck you. Found the beacon yet?-

-Nope. Actually we kind of crashed once we passed the bird barrier.-

-Okay. Details please.-

-Yeah. We flew for about two miles after that with no electronics whatsoever, so blind. This is good because that meant I was flying close to the ground when the engine decided to stop. I fucking managed to glide for half a mile more before kinda of landing/crashing near what I think is a sort of big dig site.-

-Shit. Anything else I need to know.-

-Hum. The guns all are fuck from revolver and up but the, the, goddammit, the freaking black powder guns.-

-The flintlocks.-

-Yeah that. The crossbows too are okay and the compass and the basic things. Nothing too complex or electric. Also, we saw a ship crash some time ago some place away.-

-What kind of ship?-

-Beetle like with a sliver blue color.-

-Hum, don't know that faction. Anyway stay put and I'l teleport to you in a minute.-

I broke the link with her and passed to Solomon.

-Solomon. Still alive.-

-Huh huh, still alive. Thank you. Now, I just had an interesting discussion with a werewolf alpha about this whole situation.-

-How did you found a werewolf here?-

-A pack actually and it's more that she found me. In any case, I have a part of explanation for this whole shitstorm. Apparently, some other werewolves made an alliance with mad rat spirits and, get that, a mage.-

-I'm surprise the pack didn't jump you on the spot.-

-Me too. But the important is what they did. The werewolves have drawn some kind of anti-technology ward which they think is kind of fucked up because of the stuff the rats that have gnawed the Gauntlet into non-existence and the mage did. The closer you get to the eye of the storm the stronger the effects are until the most complicated thing you can wield is a crossbow. Though imbued weapons seems to be okay.-

-Okay. A reason why they did all of that and in which way does it concern us?-

-To summon some sort of old spirit while breaking the Gauntlet over this planet. And it concern us because while they were digging, the workers broke the roof of one of the rat tunnel, the one the beacon was over and then they just dragged it off underground.-

-Dammit.-

-There is good news though.-

-Yeah?-

-The pack as asked our help to deal with the mage and maybe save the planet from merging with the Shadow.-

-That's not a good news and we are not valiant knight. Well, you are.-

-Thank you miss demon. They have agreed to pay us something you know and they gave me the true name of one of their members as a guaranty.-

-Hum, okay. Look, I'm going to teleport to Raven and contact you back.-

I broke off the connection. These new facts were problematic to say the least; a mage, two werewolves sides, crazy spirits, plus us, that's a real mess. Now, how to turn this whole thing into a profit. That was the question.

* * *

**Shepard**

The worker exploded in a flurry of furry creatures, showering Jenkins with blood. They all jumped back, Jenkins even falling on his back with a scream as he was covered with the guts of many of the small animals.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" He repeated in loops, trying to get the bleeding inside off of him but only managing to cover more of his armor with it.

Alenko and Shepard would, in a normal situation, help him. Here though, they were simply too fascinated by the decomposing man in front of them and the tens of big rats that ran away from the wounds, extracting themselves from the corpse. Shepard was the first one to shake herself off this state and rush over to him.

"Calm down soldier." She grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him up on his feet. "It's only blood. You're alright."

It took a minute or so but Jenkins eventually stopped screaming. More or less.

"What the hell was that!?"

"I... it doesn't matter. Alenko."

Said Alenko came forward. "Yes commander?"

"Contact the Normandy and see if they have any info about a possible rat infestation on the planet. Jenkins, have you seen that before here?"

"... no! Never!" He was visibly disturbed by the question.

"Okay."

"Commander, impossible to contact the Normandy." Kaidan mentioned.

"Shit!"

Right now, the thoughts the were passing through Shepard mind were pretty much the same as those passing through Kaidan and Jenkins mind. Had they just saw a man get shot and then rats emerge from its inside, a man who was eating the insides of another. No, no, it was insane. She must have seen it wrong. It was much more probable that the rats were actually eating the already dead man and had been spooked when the other one had been shot. Yes. Made much more sense than some human moving around while being full of vermin.

"Okay. The situation is still the same. We must make our way to and secure the Prothean beacon until we re-establish contact with the Normandy. I don't know where these rats come from or if they are a danger but they are not our concern right now."

"But they were inside him!" Jenkins screamed.

"No soldier, that's panic troubling your senses. You must learn to keep your calm in those situations."

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"You can't afford to panic when the bullets start flying and your mind start to see things because of stress. You need to stay focus on the mission."

Shepard's speech, the war hero, finally managed to calm the young mind.

"You're right Commander. Sorry."

"No problem. Now watch out for possible snipers and let's move."

They all nodded and resumed their walk.

x

They marched for another fifteen minutes before hearing the sound of beasts growling and women grunts. Her back to a wall was a soldier in white and pink armor, surrounded by what was patch of shadows and old leaves caught in an invisible wind with burning eyes in the form of a canine with razor sharp teeth. A thing called **Nithallur** in the first tongue, _Preyhound _in the tongue of the mage and Hounds or Chasers or countless other names in various humans languages. For Shepard, Ashley, Kaidan and Jenkins, they were big black wild dog an nothing else. Thinking otherwise would have been insane. As such, what disturbed them the most was that the soldier was trying to fend off the dogs by swinging her rifle at them.

"Help!"

"Kaidan, Jenkins, engage!"

Shepard and her teammates raised their weapons and pressed the trigger. It wasn't very effective. Mostly because their weapon didn't fired.

"What the..."

"Help!"

The soldier asked one more time.

"Kaidan, Throw."

He and Shepard raised their arm, turning the air around them a glowing blue color and pushing one of the Hound away a grand... half a centimeters. It is, after all, harder to manifest powerful biotic effect when your ampli aren't working.

"What the shit's happening?"

"Help goddamit!"

Shepard's team shenanigans had finally attracted the attention of the pack and three members had begun slowly stalking in their direction. And it was then that the weapon on their back, the one held by a small magnetic field, fell on the ground the same moment their armor system shut down.

"Commander, what do we do!?" Kaidan exclaimed.

"... hu..." Without the battery, their armor was suddenly much heavier and awkward to move in as the servo-motor weren't following their movement or taking in the weight of the armor. Their radars were done, the air conditioning system was gone, their automatic medi-gel distributor was down, the coms were down and the computers were out. "Anybody has a knife?"

They hadn't. Nor had they shovels or anything actually. And so, they grabbed the butt of their rifle and readied themselves for a fight none of them were ready for.

"Okay, come and get it you dogs."

x

The soldier in white had had its weapon ripped from its hands and the three Hounds facing Shepard were about to jump when the unthinkable happened. Again. A loud howl was heard, rolling over the hill and almost deafening them for an instant. Immediately, the beast stopped their advance, frozen in place for a second before running away in panic under the shocked look of all the soldiers present. Still the first to regain her senses, Shepard walked to the panting marine.

"Soldat."

"Yes mam."

"Was?" What had she just said?

"Pardon, qu'est-ce-que vous avez dit commandant?" Jenkins then asked.

"Jenkins, Was sagen Sie?" (No, I do not speak German and as such this will be the last sentence of it. I will indicate when this language is used with an *.)

"Jenkins, what are you saying?" Kaidan said.

Yes, the translators also have failed. And that's when the mist rolled in.

* * *

**Solomon**

Lilith got out of my head as I arrived near the end of the train line. I had taken a gamble and decided to speed myself up a little seeing as the train was down due to supernatural cause. Running at 64 meters second, or a measly 230 kilometers an hour, I burned through the mana I had gotten from the rat. There was an heavy mist that covered the land here, I could hardly see further than a couple of meters in front of me with my eyes and though my rank with the Perfected Adepts had taught me how to see an aura in less than a second, it didn't helped me much here. Even the sound seemed to be muffled by the all-encompassing gray cloud. Then again, it was probably the manifestation of a mist spirit and that could be good, benign or really bad. Good as in a low-level spirit that simply was mist and nothing more, benign as in a spirit that merely enjoys confusing those that walk into it bad if it's a strong one who likes to play with its victims.

I sat on one of the crate, waiting for Lilith to zap me when I saw someone approaching. It was rather sudden, a moment I was alone at the edge of the mist and the next the figure of a turian emerged from it. I, I was kind shocked by that I must admit. He just walked out of it, clad in reddish armor and wielding a shotgun. His sigh washed over me – thanks Lilith's gift – and the surrounding. I am not an expert in xenos expression but he looked lost and not used to that. Then, his sight came back in my direction. The _Incognito_ spell might do wonder in urban area, but here it was kind of pushing it. Before his mind could clarify that the weird dark form only a couple of meters away was actually a human though, he was distracted by the arrival of another turian. This one was in white armor and visibly in pain. Most of the left part of his chest and arm was cybernetics, thus currently inactive, and it was obviously making him suffer. He was limping and panting as he called the other, distracting him and allowing me to turn invisible. This time though I didn't escaped the attention of the Abyss. For a second I felt dark tendrils wrap themselves around my soul, cold spikes of ice that twisted my spell. It was like if some kind of old beast from the depth of the ages had suddenly turned its attention to me and had found me disgusting. The energy from the void surged and I decided to contain it inside of me. It was as if a sledgehammer had slammed into my back but at least my spell worked. Now invisible to the two aliens' sight, I approached them.

My grasp of the turian language is not the best but from the bribes I understood they knew each other and the red one was surprised to find the white one there. Okay, that was all good and well but then the red one turned around and the other just raised its pistol and pressed the trigger. I suppose it could have been really dramatic if his gun hadn't been a piece of inert plastic at the moment. Now, all it achieved was the red one to turn at the sound of the trigger and look quite stunned at his friend with the gun aimed at his face. It was really cartoony and quite funny if you could forget what it could have happened. But then, the red turian stumbled back onto me, right when Lilith teleported me.

Shit.


	6. Eden Prime part 2

I think I am getting closer to finding my rythm for this story. This one has a large part at the third person with Nihlus and first person with Solomon and the next will have all of them together. Also, I think there will be maybe one or two more part on Eden Prime before we move on with the story. And finally, sorry for the wait but I couldn't contact my usual spell checker, so expect a higher number of mistakes.

aDarkOne: Nah, it was simply a Geth ship with a Spectre inside. Unfortunately.

Guest: Yes, I can see where you come from. Both he and I have read Jim Butcher's work.

_Atlantean_

**Spirit Tongue**

-Thought-

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Misty valley**

_Iron age technology in the 22th millenium or Rock beats Laser_

**Nihlus - Normandy - Before the arrival at Eden Prime**

A simple day on board the Normandy had been more stressful for Nihlus than most of is mission in batarian space. He knew that the chance of even one member of the crew being some kinds of supernatural, for lack of a more specific word, were infinitely slim. In fact, unless the entire human race had managed to successfully pretend, even on the extranet, their ignorance, the chances that even one member of the crew had any knowledge about it were also minuscule. But, what did the human maxim said? Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. He spent most of the trip checking up on more of the superstitions and humongous amount of supernatural lore the humans seemed to have. He knew that at some point his race or the Asari probably had the same thing, but several millennia had buried most of their own lore. Now, the entirety of both their race supernatural beliefs could probably hold on a dozen of datapad.

Riffling through humanity lore had been a hard task, between the conflicting information, the lore from fiction and from older sources mixing or influencing each other, the different cultures and monsters that shifted through time, it was all very confusing and not at all what he would normally be doing. But, it also had been very informative. Now, what he needed was inside information from someone with firsthand knowledge, or better, one of the supernatural being. After this mission, he was planning on making a trip through human space for that. There also had been another result to his dove into the supernatural when it came to his own race lore. Turian utilised the word Spirits almost in the same way human used the word God and nobody, except maybe scholars, really went deeper into it. The turian once venerated spirits and blablabla, now, it's mostly a source of quote for when someone dies or something else. But Nihlus researches had revealed to him a much deeper culture and system of beliefs. One he would have ignored before, but now with what he knew, maybe it wasn't the nonsense he had already though it was. Which explained why he was currently doing martial exercises in a storage room with several stick of incense burning around him, repeating a series of movements that supposedly helped to open his senses to the invisible world. He didn't know if it worked, but at least it was somewhat relaxing and a good exercise.

xxxxxxxx

He was in the middle of a sequence of punch when Anderson walked into the room.

"Nihlus. We are leaving FTL in a moment."

He waited to finish his sequence.

"Thank you Captain."

He stopped to put out the incense under Anderson curious eyes.

"Yes?"

"Oh, excuse me. It's simply that I have never seen a turian doing this."

"It is no wonder. Contrary to what most sociologist say, turian generally don't bother thinking about the old rites. We have lost most of our legends and beliefs once we ascended to the stars."

He nodded, his interest on the subject limited.

"Anderson, tell me, what is your opinion on Shepard?"

"She's a good soldier."

"Most of our military are good soldiers Commander. You have served with her, do you think she has what it takes to be a Spectre?"

He shrugged. "It's not my decision to take."

"Commander, I am not a politician any more than you."

Anderson's gaze didn't flinched.

"Ah, but I am a turian."

The Spectre shook his head.

"Captain Anderson. I might be a turian, but I am not Saren. Any potential Spectre chosen by the Council has already proven their qualities, martial or otherwise, and have had complete psychological evaluation. What I need now is the opinion of a man who both his a friend of her and a military mind."

He walked up to him.

"On a personal level, do you think she has what it takes to be a Spectre?"

The man sighed before checking around to make sure there was nobody around.

"Strictly between you and me, as military officer. Frankly, I don't think so. She certainly has the skill and competence to make a fine Spectre. She would be able to convince a crew of batarian slavers to follow her into hell and find some way to fight her way out of it alive."

"But?"

"But she has a hard time following order without thinking about her soldiers. I doubt she would be able to voluntarily sacrifice the men under her command or leave civils behind in order to accomplish her objective unless literally impossible."

"Are you saying she has trouble obeying orders?"

"Well, she would probably do anything in her power to accomplish her objective. But should it come to choose between the Prothean beacon or saving her team, she will choose her team."

"I see." The turian nodded slowly. "Thank you for your honesty."

* * *

He sprinted away from the landing zone, shotgun raised and all of his senses at the ready. This mission had really turned into something he wasn't expecting. Something his human allies, unless they were really good comedian, also hadn't expected seing how they immediately rationalized it. Combined with his little conversation, he was now pretty sure neither Anderson nor Shepard were supernatural being. Well, as much as he was sure neither of them was the Shadow Broker at least. In any case, whatever this thing was it probably wasn't natural. Meaning the chance of finding something or someone not natural were probably slightly higher too. He didn't think his chances really high of even seing one. They wouldn't have stayed a secret to even the STG if one could simply stumble upon something supernatural by pure luck and walk away. Anyhow, there was also the possibility, however thin that this was entirely natural and that the rest of this mission would happen without any more problem. Yeah...

xxxxxxxx

The lack of human presence as he was making his way through the landscape was mildly disturbing. Bodies, he could deal with, but a lack of it, of combat even, was much more troubling. It indicated either a lack of fighting, higlhy improbably, or an enemy that was able to hide his presence to the point of hiding even the bullet's impact. Or maybe the big black rodents he could see on the ground had something to do with it. The data on Eden Prime did not indicate any population of rats and he was pretty sure they were unnaturally big specimens, all of them. There was also the problems with his system he had to consider. For some reason, his HUD was constantly flickering and rebooting and his armor was jamming every two seconds. If this was some kinds of electronic warfare, it was a kind he had never seen before, even from rogue STG team.

xxxxxxxx

He turned around a particulary large rock, weapon raised, when he finally found survivor. Standing still with its back turned to the turian was a human in shredded clothing. Nihlus could almost taste the putrid smell coming from him, not unlike the one he could in Omega's sewers.

"Shepard. I've made contact with a civilian."

No answer, but schratching and high-pitch noises.

"Shepard. Do you hear me?"

This time, there was simply a low buzz followed by a pop as his earpiece died.

"Dammit. Solo then."

He took a step forward, shotgun aimed at the back of the human.

"Sir, I'm here with the rescue mission. Are you okay?"

No response from him. Nihlus took another step forward.

"Sir. Turn around, slowly." One more step.

"Hungry, I am hungry. « Translation Error » bad meat. Death man « Translation Error » good meat. Death man don't like to be disturbed."

The man finally turned around. His skin was greasy and sick brown, his eyes wild and, as a whole, dirty looking. His movements were weird and discorded, as if pulled on several directions at the same time. Now Nihlus took a step back.

"Don't move."

The human made a move and the turian pressed the trigger. His shotgun didn't fire.

"What?"

The weird human took another step forward. "Don't disturb he said. Fresh good meat if don't disturbed."

"Okay, the old fashioned way then."

From a small hidden sheath on his back, he pullet out a blade. It was a rarity for soldier in this day and age to still carry one, the item having been removed from a soldier standards pack a long time ago for various reason, notably how useless it was in modern combat. Guess the higher-up didn't though about a situation were all of your gear suddenly turn useless. But back to the blade. It was a gift from her mother for his graduation, an old thing dating from a long time ago, several millennia if his mother was right. As if. He had forgotten it until, well, two days ago actually. He had found it wrapped up somewhere under an old set of armor and a couple of pistol magazine block. It was a two edges blade with serpentine silver marking running all over it and the handle was made with some sort of whitish material that he was pretty sure was bone. In any case, whatever its origins or how it was made, it was still a weapon. And, when after having dodged the man wild swing, he stuck it right through his ribs and through what was supposed to be his right lungs, it proved to be still in perfect working order. Even at little more actually because the scream of pain from the man was disturbingly strong, as was his reaction.

"Hurt! Hurt!"

He stumbled back and... was that smoke coming from his wound? And a dead rat slipping from it? Nihlus stood there, stunned as the weird man ran away hissing and screeching insult at him. He looked back at his knife. On the surface of the blade, the silver serpents seemed to be quivering whenever they were in contact with blood and he could hear a slight humming coming from it. What exactly was this blade?

xxxxxxxx

This kind of question was interesting and he really needed to find an expert in old Turian lore after this, but right now he was in a battlefield and he needed to be on guard. Even if this simple item opened a whole new realm of qestions, the first being just what kind of link the old turian civilisation had with the supernatural. Also, what was this mist suddenly falling down? He observed it rolling down the hills like some kinds of white wave that crashed onto him and drowned his vision in misty white. At least, now it confirmed beyond any doubt, if there was any left, that this wasn't a natural phenomenon. If only he had some way to record any of this. Well, he wasn't the kind to cry for that and there was still a mission to accomplish. Basing himself on his last memory of the sun's position, he began walking North-East.

xxxxxxxx

He wasn't able to see more than a meter forward through the fog, advancing almost blindly, and every sound seemed strangely muted, even those as close as his own footsteps. The temperature had also dropped slightly, not to the point of being uncomfortable yet, but enough so that he noticed it pretty quickly. Especially now that his armor heating system were off. Those facts largely explained why he missed the two large canine creatures that almost appeared right in front of him. They were big, as in bigger than a varren, and patiently waiting for him. In normal circumstances, he would have considered this highly disturbing. Now, not so much. Rather, it was another weird thing that was happening to him. At least they didn't seem to be aggressive because with his weapon out of order and each step being a fight against his armor, he doubted he could outrun them or fight them. Though, maybe stab one of them was possible.

"So, can you talk you too?"

No answer, of course. Though, one of them inclined his head and the other approached him, seemingly curious. Nihlus stayed perfectly motionless as the beast sniffed him for several minutes, before turning back to his companion and exchanging a series of odd grunts and cries. The two continued with this routine for a couple of minutes before another howl pierced through the strange sound dampening qualities of the mist and shook the two might be animal. Without a look for him, they ran away and disapeared into the gray fog.

-Titan dammit!-

He rushed after them, or at least in their direction. At this point, it was the only thing he had left, alone and without communication in an unnatural smog. He passed rocks, more grass, more rock, more grass, another rock and then, suddenly, metal.

xxxxxxxx

He looked at his foot and the metallic plate under it. Slowly, one by one, his system rebooted and, if they were still glitchy, at least they were on. Immediately, he tried to open a link to Shepard.

"Shepard, can you hear me?"

Nothing but static.

"Normandy, do you receive me?"

"Nihlus... contact... Ge... whe... you... over."

"Normandy, repeat."

This time, there was no reply.

-Well. So much for that.-

He braced his shotgun forward and walked out of the fog. Around him, Nihlus could see signs of human installations, probably some kinds of landing or stocking zone if the large crates were any indication. But, no sign of any living thing even here at the edge of the mist. He had put his coms on what could be described as shuffle mode, shifting through the nearest communication, and the few bits he could hear were not good.

"Ne... elp! Six uni...!"

"Large ship ap...! Oh God! It... iant!"

All accompanied by the sound of distorted explosions in the background and firefight. Whatever was happening outside was not good and probably violent. As he was thinking that, a sudden racking sound made him spun around and aim his gun.

"Saren?"

Leaning against the handrail was the turian Spectre, clenching a pistol in his right hand and holding the other against his chest, visibly in pain. Though there was no wound on his body, it was clear he was heavily injured in some sort of way. Nihlus immediately rushed to the side of his old friend.

"Saren. What's going on? What are you doing here?" He asked as he grabbed a pack of medi-gel.

"The Council was worried there might be trouble so they felt the need to send me, just in case." He batted away the medi-gel. "Useless. It's my implants which are failing."

"We need to get you out of here fast. Do you have a transport?"

"Fell out of the sky because of some sort of EMP."

"The crew?"

"Irrelevant."

Nihlus rose from beside the other turian, sighing.

"This situation is a real mess Saren. I don't even think half of it is natural at best."

"Don't worry. I'll fix this human failure."

"You?"

He turned around at the click sound to find Saren with his gun aimed at his back, pressing a trigger that wasn't working. Nihlus jaw dropped, the What and Why he wanted to scream fighting to get out at the same time. The sheer shock of this treason made him stumble backward, his mind suddenly blank. What he didn't expected, again, was to actually hit something. And then everything turned dark.

* * *

Nihlus opened his eye to a setting he wasn't expecting. It looked very much like the command deck of the ship that had taken him from his home to the turian's training camp. The same wall, the same recycled air, the same holographic screens, the same ship. Yet, it wasn't the same ship. There are two main reason as to how he knew that. First, the ship had been destroyed by pirates some years ago. Second, the turians behind the commands were all ignoring him, their traits obscure even with a light shining onto their face. Furthermore, soldiers, medics and civilians were constantly walking all over the deck, talking to themselves, or him, he wasn't exactly sure as their words seemed to bounce around the room and one person walking away could apparently be holding a conversation with someone behind a computer on the other side of the room. Through one of the window, he could see people walking, even though it was supposed to be space there, while one of the wall, in direction of the pilot seat, had an immense hole into it that showed some sort of lustful plain with forest and mountains in the background. In one corner he could see a mix of blood and water leaking from the room, ignored by all. Finally, the most distinctive feature of this weird command deck was the darkness. The whole place was barely illuminated by the emergency lights, covering everything in dark shades of red and blue. For a brief instant, he had felt as if he was back in some Omega shady bar.

"Waow, it's sure dark around here." Suddenly said a small voice.

Nihlus spun around only to find a little turian girl lying down on the ground with a real sheet of paper in front of her and crayons in her hands, drawing.

"... Who... what are you?"

She awkwardly got on her feet, as child sometime do, her drawing in hand.

"See. This his me, this is you and this is mommy."

Nihlus froze, first because the girl had just shown him a childish drawing of him with the word daddy over him and second because the entire scenery around him had changed in the blink of an eye.

"Vyrren?"

xxxxxxxx

He was back to the raid against Perula V, a small pirate outpost near the Terminus system on some Artcic planet, back into his old armor and looking at the magnificent sunrise slowly climbing over the frozen mountain with Vyrren. Vyrren, or Vy as she liked, was probably the only friend Nihlus had made during his training. They had met the first day and immediately hated each other. She was the last daughter of a mildly high ranked family from Palaven and he was a fatherless turian from a mercenary outpost. By the time the basic training was over they were inseparable. Together, they rose through the ranks until, one day, Nihlus received a call to become a Spectre and then they had never seen each other again. Nihlus knew he had felt something for her, something else than simple friendship. This moment, with the sun rising and the two of them of them still panting from the fight, that was the moment he seriously considered asking her out. Years of waiting, but in the end he had simply stayed silent beside her and the next day he was being shipped off to the Citadel. The rest was history.

xxxxxxxx

He turned back toward the girl, who was still expecting an answer.

"What is going on?"

She did the turian equivalent of a pout at his answer.

"Pfu. And you pretty lady, what do you think?"

Nihlus spun around a second time to face the new person, ready to fight. It was a human woman, at least in form. Her hair were a window into space, not black or dyed or some sort of holo trick, no, if the turian had tried to touch her hair he had the feeling his fingers would simply have passed through them and entered the void. They fell around her down to her waist, flowing in an invisible wind. Her skin was porcelain and the color of milk, perfectly sculpted and unstained. Her long dress seemed to be made of snow and ice somehow held into place, with blue gleams shining each time the light touched them. She grabbed the paper and he saw that her fingers were segmented, like the one of an antique doll he had once seen at a Matriarch house. At the contact of her skin, a soft layer of frost began to cover the paper.

"It looks different."

Her voice was soft and peaceful, with a singing quality to it that made him want to go on his knee. With a smile, the little turian took back the drawing.

"Thanks pretty lady."

And she rushed away, leaving a still stunned Nihlus behind with the human.

"Maybe you should sit down. We have a lot to talk about and you seem quite troubled."

In a blink, the decor around him had changed once more. It had turned into some kinds of interior in a style he had never seen. The walls were of dark wood and covered with heavy bookcase full of old fashioned paper book bound in leather while the ground was covered by heavy carpets with intricate patterns. There was two armchairs sitting in front of a roaring fire, one already occupied by the woman, and a little table with two fuming cup on it. The only source of lightning was the fire and candles on the table. Carefully, the Spectre sat down.

"Now." She started. "I know you must have many questions, as I have for you."

"Who are you? Why have you brought me here? Where are we? ... Is any of this real?"

"You can call me Lizzie, mister Nihlus. As for the reality of this place, it is all a matter of perspective. Strictly speaking, we are currently inside a sort of representation of your subconscious called the Oneiros. Inside your mind if you prefer, a place of dream. And for your next question, no, we cannot harm each other."

"Really?"

Though Nihlus was projecting a calm image, as calm as he could at least, he was actually terrified. For all he knew he could be on some batarian planet far outside Council space, trapped inside a holographic prison, away from any possible help. If true, then it probably was the worst situation he had been in since the beginning of his career. But, it was in those kinds of situation that you needed to stay calm the most if you wanted to survive.

"Yes. You are currently an avatar of thoughts and will, I cannot harm your physical body."

"And where is my body then?"

"Cuffed inside the _Pelican_."

"Which is?"

"An old VTOL airship."

"So I am a prisoner of the Alliance both in mind and body?"

"The Alliance? No, they rather prefer to use a faster and more direct method of interrogation on their normal prisoners. If they had caught you spying on them like a typical Hunter, they would have simply broken open your mind and dropped your burned body somewhere. Spectre rank or not."

"And did you knew I was a Spectre?"

"Passed by your memory on my way here. But for now, yes, you are our prisoner. But it is still your mind after all."

"And what was that scene with Nyrren?"

"Ah, that was her name. Nothing more than one of your many memories appearing as a dream."

Okay, it didn't make any sense, or except in the highly spiritual way.

"And the little girl?"

"Seeing how fast she was to found our weakness, I'd say your Daimon."

"Daimon?"

"Your conscience if you'd prefer."

"My conscience is a little girl?"

"Your Daimon is trying to send you a message. And one day I am sure you will have the time to make the necessary spiritual voyage to understand the deeper meaning of her message. But right now, I would like to ask you some question if you please."

"Do I really have a choice?"

"Of course, it is your mind after all."

Nihlus sighed. Grabbing one of the cup.

"I can drink this?"

"Again, it is your mind. You decide."

He took a sip of what turned out to be a high class tea from Palaven.

"Very well, what are your questions?"

"For starter, what are you doing here?"

The Spectre was unsure what kind of interrogation this was. If she was the good cop, then where was the bad cop? She probably already knew what he was doing here, is name and such. She and her companions probably only wanted to know how much he knew.

"I am here to supervise the first mission of the Normandy and of the first human Spectre nominee."

"And what his this mission, if I may ask?"

"To retrieve a certain artefact."

She took a little sip of her cup. "The Normandy is an Alliance vessel isn't it."

"It is a collaboration between turian and human."

"Flying under Alliance colors?"

"... Yes."

"Is there any plans for it to one day serve under the Hierarchy?"

-No.- "I am not privy to those details."

"Well, then I would say it is an Alliance vessel. In any case, was your only reason to be here the retrieval of this object?"

"Yes."

"Then what were you doing threatening Sha'ira on the Citadel?"

That took him by surprise for a second as he realised he had already seen her somewhere. "You! You were the one who I saw leaving the Consort chamber!"

"Yes. And you are the one I saw entering Sha'ira chamber."

"What are you?"

"Someone who wants to know why you are looking for me and my friends."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Neither does it answer mine. Did someone hire you, or maybe you are just another Hunter on a murderous righteous rampage, or something else rather?"

"Something else, what do you mean?"

"No need to hide it. I will admit that it is the first time I encounter a turian with a connection to the supernatural, but you will agree that our lives are filled with first time and unique occasion. In any case, why are you hunting us?"

-What is she talking about? I am not a monster? Whatever. She doesn't seem to know I followed them on the Citadel, but think I followed them here, interesting.-

"It is my job as a Spectre to investigate possible menaces to the galaxy."

"We didn't do anything. Though I suppose it did not really matter to people like you."

Insults were not new for Nihlus. People either adulated or hated Spectre.

"Are you implying you aren't dangerous?"

"Anybody can be dangerous in the right circumstance."

"Not everybody can enter the dream of other people, or take bullet to the stomach without flinching, or whatever it is that you can do."

"None of those things are crime."

"Only because you managed to keep it secret."

She said nothing for a moment, simply pouring herself more tea.

"We don't keep it a secret mister Nihlus. People simply choose to forget."

"Sorry?"

"I know people who can summon tsunami and jungle with lightning, other who can travel from planet to planet in less than the blink of an eye. I also know of immortal monster devoid of morality who are a thousand time worse slaver than even the most cruel of batarian. Beasts, heroes, creature of darkness, light or gray, even minor gods, can you really believe that anyone could keep this secret in the Age of information I think it is called. With cameras everywhere and the extranet?"

"It would be possible."

"Only if all of those trying to keep it secret where connected, highly trained and motivated. Which is, you will admit, statistically improbable."

"I'll give you that."

By experience, Nihlus knew that secret organizations have statistically increasing degrees of inefficiency, proportional to their size.

"So how? And why? You obviously have powers, so why are you hiding?"

"I told you, we are not hiding, people simply choose to forget most of the time. Hum, how had Solomon put it. Ah yes, if he was to go right now at the Presidium and start throwing lightning, first, the people would be amazed, then they would resume their walk, C-Sec would come and arrest him for troubling the public order or something else like that, two hours latter everybody would have forgotten the strange man and his new funny tech toy. Then, bad thing would happen to Solomon."

"Secret police?"

"The result of a overwhelming ego long ago. Though it is best translated by the universe will make bad thing happen to him."

"And you?"

A cold wind suddenly blew through the closed room, snuffing out candles and shaking the fire.

"As I said, there is whole worlds out there, populated with amoral gods that have a fondness for human. And one thing they really don't like is losing one of their prize."

Nihlus felt the pressure of the room increase and the shadow deepen, as if he was being immobilized by the air itself. He needed to take her mind out of this and fast.

"So, there is no conspiracy for galactic domination?"

In a flash, everything went back to normal.

"I didn't say that. But conspiracy are always tricky to classified. After all, you belong to one yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"A group of secret agent that can kill at will, have absolute authority and only answer to three leaders. Excuse me if I found some resemblance with a conspiracy of governmental killer."

He gritted his teeth.

"Yes, I can see that. So what now?"

"It is mostly up to you. By your memories, you are only starting into this world of darkness. You are scared, terrified even, and full of question because you just found that a whole group of people have ability that you don't understand and can't have. Most in your case turn toward the hunt, picking up pitchfork and torches to kill the terrifying monster in the dark, not understanding why people around them think they are crazy when they start killing children because they might be a monster."

"And the other way?"

"Discussion. Understanding. Peace. You are one of the supernatural after all."

"I am still lacking proof of that."

"You remember us. That is already much."

"Very well." He put down the cup. "How do we get out here?"

She too put down her cup and stood up.

"Simple."

Before Nihlus could even react, she was in front of him and a piece of cold was jammed through his chest. Holding a sword of burning ice that was slowly freezing his inside, the girl was giving him a smile he would, at the instant, gladly have died for and was more scary than ten insane Justicars running after him.

* * *

**Solomon**

"You know, you're really lucky that he got knocked out by the teleportation."

I diverted my eyes from the turian cuffed to the door to Lilith.

"Can teleportation do that by the way? Knock you out if you happen to be brought along I mean?"

"Not normally. In fact, I doubt people can simply jump along on a teleportation like he did. But with magic... Especially considering he is not normal himself. He might even have wanted to come along. Who knows what he can do."

I turned my head back to him, the little sparks of lightning dancing in his aura, taunting me.

"Any idea what he's supposed to be? Just another soul transfer like the quarian girl or do we have a true member of some turian supernatural race?"

"Guess you will have to ask him when he wakes up."

"If he does't decide to try to kill us all."

The moment after I said that, he jerked upward with a scream.

"Oh, that was quick."

xxxxxxxx

The Spectre fought to get on his feet, breathing heavily.

"Wh... where am I? Where is Lizzie? Who are you? What have you done to me?" He shouted, fighting against the zip-tie binding him to the wall.

Man am I glad to have taken those turian lesson back on the Atlantis because otherwise I would have no idea what his chirps and cries meant.

"In order, on the surface of Eden Prime inside the _Pelican_, in the _Firefly _where she has been since the beginning of this whole mess, a salvage crew and tied you up."

The look on his face was pretty clear. He had not understand a single word of what I just said. Did those people didn't teach their Specials Ops more language? Oh shit, if the other race start to imitate the dumb Alliance N7 they are really in trouble. Anyway, Lilith pushed me aside with a sigh.

"You, go check with the other. I'm gonna do the talking."

"Okay, just don't teleport him into a sun if he piss you off, like last time."

"Last time was an Asari mercenary with an anger and ego problem." She puffed.

"Details."

xxxxxxxx

I left her alone and walked outside. There, Alice and Raven had deployed our gear on a plastic table.

"Hey ladies. Comment ça ce passe?"

Alice rose her head from the barrel of the musket she was ramming a bullet into.

"Plus ou moins bien vu la situation légèrement limitante coté armement; ont a quatre épées, quelques dagues, pas mal de petits couteaux, une hache, une masse, un mousquet, un pistolet à percussion, deux arbalètes et un arc. Ajoute a ça une vingtaine de carreaux et de flèches avec les têtes d'argent ou de tungstène, même nombre de balles, argent et tungstène."

"Et coté armure?"

"Trois gilets pare-balles avec les protèges membres additionels, quelques pièces métalliques et deux boucliers."

"Et vous vous plaigniez que je surchargais le _Pélican_." I said with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's still a lot of death weight 90% of the time as far as I'm concern." Raven answered.

"But it's the other 10% that matter."

I removed my jacket and started putting on the vest and other piece of armor.

"So, once it will be time to leave, any plans for the Geth?"

Apparently, from the few communications Elizabeth had been able to pick up, several Geth unit were attacking the colony and taking control of the zone around the mist, not daring to enter or even fly over it. Synthetic life forms plus anti-technologies zone do not mix well.

Raven simply shrugged. "A rush through. They still see only through cameras or radars so we should be okay. Actually, I am more concerned about possible Alliance soldiers or pilots stumbling onto us, like the one Lilith found fooling around."

"Yeah. The Alliance does have a talent to bring their lack of competence to every situation that doesn't need them."

"Vous savez." Began Alice with a sigh. "Vous ne manquez jamais une seule occasion de trainer l'Alliance dans la boue. Il-y-a une raison pour ça ou quoi? Ils ne sont pas supposé représenter le meilleur de l'humanité et bla bla bla?"

Raven and I shared a look before bursting out laughing. I was the first to regain a little composure and be able to answer.

"Well, the answer to that question is multiple. First, I was a Royal Marine and so I have kind of a duty to mock other countries militaries branches. Second, also as a Royal Marine, I can tell you right now that their training course is crap. They have a six-month training that barely teach them the basic of tactic and soldier discipline and after that it's gene mods and ebook. Alliance soldiers have a tenuous grasp of squad level tactic at best and a crappy leadership. It's almost as if they consider things like flanking maneuvers, suppressive fire or other basics like mere suggestion."

"Another thing that is simply inexplicable is how they sent their soldiers into the fight without water, food or any other gear beside an omni-tool and then don't understand why their guys can't be on the field for more than a couple of hours without falling on their knee." Raven added.

"To make this short, the System Alliance military is built like if all of its soldier were first person shooter hero. A bunch of people with a load of gun, but no logistic. Right now it's working for them, which I don't really know how to take, and the other races even seem to consider it a power, which is really worrisome on a whole other level, but if they were to try to take on any of Earth force they would get steamrolled, starved and outmanoeuver like the Romans against Hannibal."

"Wow. Vraiment?"

"Yep. But really what were they expecting? Even if the Earth nations that have signed to System Alliance chart have to provide them with a percentage of their own force, it doesn't mean they have to give them the best."

"The worse rather." Raven added.

"Yeah, but I guess the Seer prefer it like that. They make the bare minimum competent force so it can never threaten them. Though, their commandos are respectable, especially those used in sanitization."

Alice let out an impressive whistle. "Merde."

"You can say that. You can see the result of their thinking right now."

"Vraiment? Comment?"

"Their protection policy of big fleet around major relay. Really good against invasion, crap against raid."

The changeling shook her head.

xxxxxxxx

A couple of minutes latter, Lilith and the turian, Nihlus, exited the VTOL.

"Okay everyone, here is the plan. Nihlus here will come with me and Solomon down into the tunnel. Alice and Raven, you are responsible for guarding the _Pelican_ and looking for any change of situation with this damn mist. Solomon, Nihlus, with me please."

The three of us moved to a part of the table a little more free of weapon where she deployed a handmade map.

"Okay. Our goal is double, one, to retrieve the Prothean artefact, second, to fix the breach in the Gauntlet. This is a map that Marina's pack made recently of some of the tunnel the rats have dug. It's not complete but it's a good start."

"Question."

"Yes Solomon?"

"Can I please talk to you a second." I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away.

"Okay, what the fuck?" I asked.

"Sorry?"

"Ten minutes of discussion and now this guy come with us in a mission. You're sure he doesn't have some mind control power because this looks suspicious as hell."

She sighed. "Listen, I talked with him and Lizzie rummaged through his mind, he really don't know how to use is power. If he has even any. What he his is a Spectre facing a situation he never even believed could be possible and that scare him shitless. Though he does a good job hiding it, right now he's just waiting for the first sign of attack to try to run away. So, we can either leave him behind and almost assure he will turn into some sort of Hunter, or we can drag him with us to try to prove that we are not dangerous to the galaxy."

"Except that we are dangerous to the galaxy, to all of reality in fact. And we still could kill him."

"Yes, we are, so you had better be good and answer his questions right. And no, we are not killing him. Plans for the rest of his friends to come looking into it. And this shitty situation his already plenty weird, enough to birth a whole new generations of dumb Hunters."

"Okay then."

xxxxxxxx

We walked back to the table.

I asked Lilith. "Okay, can he understand English or do we have to do this whole mission in Asari or Salarian."

He actually answered. "Your Captain cast something on me so I could understand and speak with you."

I took a good look at him. It's always hard to read turian facial expression but if I had to guess, I would say he was more tense than a bowstring, his eyes always jumping everywhere as if he expected us to turn into three headed dogs. Pfu, everybody knows that those guys only live on Eden.

"That won't be a problem for you, power wise I mean?" Magically surcharging yourself was never a good idea.

"No, I don't think so."

She cuts our conversation short.

"Very well. As I was saying, we're here, just near one of the construction area and our point of entry his here; the future sewer system of the Arcology. We'll walk down the already installed pipes for a hundred meters than enter the claw made tunnel proper and from there find the center of the labyrinth and most probably our two objectives. From what the pack said, we can expect many groups of Horde's nest, that's the rat puppet and probably Sewer slave-driver too, those are the bigger guys. There is a good probability they have captured humans for some use, probably sacrifice so watch out for them. We'll try to rescue them if they are on our way, otherwise the Alliance will take care of it. There is also a high chance of various hostile spirit crawling underground so be ready for anything. Nihlus, it's your first action involving spirit right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. With time, if you survive, you'll probably develop a sense for them, but for now if the ground feels weird under your feet, or if what you are breathing feels tingly, or even if the dark in front of you shake, then it's probably alive and we're going to get attacked. Questions?"

"Yes." Nihlus said. "My weapon and armor are..."

"Solomon will take care of that." I was? "Anything else?"

"Because someone else wants it."

"Very well."

"Good." She took back the map. "Solomon, make him ready."

xxxxxxxx

"Okay. First thing first, we need to get you out of that coffin." I pointed at his armor.

"It's a Phantom X. The best."

"Even without power? You must be cooking in there without the AC on."

He hesitated for a moment before sighing. "This armor costs as much as a space fighter. I would rather not have it scrapped if possible."

"I understand." I turned toward Alice. Her face was dark with black powder and her hand tainted with grease, yet, she managed to keep this strange ferric air. "Hey Alice, you think you can fix his armor?"

She approached us and took a long look at the armor, an eyebrow raised.

"If I had time, yes. Right now, I might be able to free your movement, but you will still feel like in a tin can and dragging this weight around."

"I will bear it."

She nodded and two minutes latter the armor was in piece around and the turian took a deep breath.

"Water?"

"By the titans, yes."

I handed him a canteen that he drank greedily.

"You know, just for future reference, you might want to bring water with you if you come along with us."

"I'll keep that in mind." He said as he finished the whole bottle and gave it back to me.

"Okay. Now, weapon time." I indicated the table full of weapon. "You have any training with sword, spears, mace, any kind of blade really?"

"I trained a little with the omni-blade."

"So no. Hunting with a bow or crossbow maybe?"

"No."

"Okay. Not a problem." I turned toward the table, thinking of a combination for him. Nihlus though had some questions.

"Is competency with sword and other kind of old weapon common?"

"Much more than in the general population, that's for sure."

"Why?"

"Because of situation like this one. Also, there is a lot more of legendary sword and axes than there is guns."

"Yet you wear one."

"Oh, yeah." I placed my hand on my laspistol. "But that's an imbued item, not an artefact."

"Meaning?"

"Artefact are legendary items from other dimensions. Imbued items are just object enchanted by a mage."

"Other... dimensions?"

"Yes. But it doesn't matter for now." -I think.-

"And it will work?"

"For me, yes. Now, for you since we really don't have the time to teach you even the basic, you're best bet is the mace and a shield."

I give him the two item.

"With the mace you just have to swing hard, you hit something it will do damage, and the shield will compensate for your inexperience as long as you keep it between you and the blow."

He grab the two, weighing the shield and swinging the mace left and right.

"I suppose it will do fine."

"As fine as you can with so little time."

A grabbed two backpack from the _Pelican _and threw him one.

"There. There is all you need for dungeon crawling in there."

"Dungeon crawling."

"Yeah. Small corridors, no artificial light, weird monsters, a sorcerer, a warrior and a mage, a treasure to retreive and a world ending in case of failure. If it wasn't for the Paradox and the Abyss, I would believe myself back into the D&amp;D Temenos."

"And... that is good?"

"Depend."

"On what?"

From behind Nihlus, Alice snorted. "If you're insane enough, that's awesome."

* * *

**Obscurus system**

The Obscurus system is a system of thirteen planets that was isolated by mages after the Element zero core of the local mass relay was turned into aluminium and the rest of the relay thrown split in two by a portal. Isolated from the rest of the galaxy and most importantly from Sleepers, this system is used by various cabals to perform dangerous experiment. The Adamantine Arrow like to use the various harsh environment to train its members against both magical and mundane threats.

**Eden**

Eden is the fifth of the thirteen planets of the Obscurus system. Terraformed through magic, it is used by a cabal of Thyrsus who specialise in magical creature. Though the planet possess an Earth like wildlife that was introduced by the cabal, they also created and introduced creatures like Monitaurs, Cerberus, Griphyns, Basilisks, Roks, Giant spiders, Unicorns and all manners of other mythological creatures. Studies, hunts, breeding, it all happens on this planet.

* * *

French translation

(How is it going?)

(More or less seeing our slightly limited weapons situation; we have four swords, a couple of daggers, a bunch of small knives, an axe, a mace, one musket, a percussion revolver, two crossbow and a bow. Add to that some twenty bolts and arrows with silver head or tungsten head, same number of bullets, silver and tungsten.)

(And on the armor side?)

(Three bulletproof vest with the additional limbs protections, some metal armor pieces and two shields.

(And you complained that I surcharged the _Pélican_.)

(You know) Began Alice with a sigh. (You never miss a single occasion to drag the Alliance into the mud. There's a reason to that or what? Aren't they suppose to be the best of humanity and all that?)

(Wow, really?)

(Damn.)

(Really? How?)


	7. Eden Prime part 3

Hi, I'm back from my long summer vacantion and lost of all my work with a new chapter I must have rewriten twice and am still not satisfied by. Really, it feels like nothing really happen or progress. But hey, I'l try to not let university slow me down too much and update more frequently. Hope you enjoy.

deadal: Merci.

Warpwind: Sorry, my proofreader house burned down. No joke. So he is gonna be out for a while.

_Atlantean_

**Spirit Tongue**

* * *

**Solomon**

With each step I took on the damp and uneven ground, small bits of earths and other matter fell down on my head and shoulders. I had enhanced my eyes with magic, a basic little spell called _Nightsight_ that attuned my perceptions to pick up trace amounts of ambient light, supplementing this with an intuitive feel for vibration, heat and the like, meaning I could see in the dark with the same clarity as most nocturnal predators and could essentially perceive the infrared or ultraviolet spectrum and detect electromagnetic radiation, or sonic or kinetic energy, and what I was able to perceive wasn't reassuring at all. Claws and teeth mark, freshly moved earth, weak roof, these were all the signs of a freshly dug tunnels which hadn't been consolidated yet and was threatening to cave in at any moment. Definetely not the kind of place I usually like walking into, especially since the way they had dug this tunnel, in a hurry, meant there was only enough space for us to walk one behind another. Something Nihlus found the hard way.

"Why am I the first one?"

"Because this is a cramp tunnel and you have a shield. It's only logical that you be the first in line."

"But it was you that gave me this shield."

"Exactly." I held back my smile. I had given him a _Nightsight_ too after all, along with an armor, better not taking any risk.

"...Damn you."

"Shut up at the front. There is something coming." Lilith murmured.

We stopped immediately, Nihlus setting up his shield while I aimed over his and Lilith shoulder as much as I could. In the underground silence that surrounded us, I didn't need any spell to hear the incoming creatures. It was a small clicking, small object that ground against each other, as well as a small cackling of high-pitch cries. Even to us with enhanced vision, it looked like a blot of darkness seething with small bones, broken feathers and raggedy claws. His head took the form of a broken crow skull sinking into and out of the inky darkness his body was. The size of a very large bird, or a medium dog, it was making its way toward us. Behind it, several stumbling corpses advanced, dressed in workers uniforms. Their bodies were rotted, their eyes swelling with pus, maggots were eating their flesh from the inside and the marks of claws and bite most had were surrounded by black flesh oozing a putrid blood. There was no trace of rats under their skins, those were proper living dead and they had all of the horrific traits this state entitled. With a shrieking scream, the death spirit leading them finally noticed us.

"**Living! Drag them into Death. Rot them!**"

The now dead workers charged at us like in the movies of old, moaning with their decrepit vocal cords and brandishing either crude weapons or simply using their teeth. Somehow, they managed to charge side by side and crash against Nihlus shield. He swung his mace against the skull of one, crushing it and making one of its eyes, only for it to completely ignore the hit and grab the edge of Nihlus' shield, trying to rip it out of his grasp. My own shot hit the second one at his side directly in the chest, burning away the necrotic flesh, overheating what was left of his blood and making his arteries and veins explode from overpressure. Man, we're far from fiction slight burn. Though, same as the other, the undead didn't even flinched.

"What are those?" Shouted the turian.

"Zombies. Mash them into pulp! Lilith!"

"I know."

I felt the pulse of vulgar magic from her expend around us. This straight corridor we were in was distorted by Space magic and turned into a loop. I spun around to see the back of another zombie trying to push forward. My shot hit him straight into the right shoulder, melting it. His arm fell to the ground and my sword passed through his spine, screaming. I was ready for another strike, but then, the undead simply fell to the ground, motionless. What the hell? I didn't have the time to consider the question before other turned around and rushed me. Inevitably, shots from my pistol wounded them, but a single slash from my sword was often enough to turn them into motionless bodies. I walked the entire line of zombies this way until I reached Nihlus who had managed to tear one into pieces and was in the process of smashing another one. I helped him finish it with a couple of shot. After it, he was panting, bits of blood on his face and his mace dripping with skull parts.

"Slightly different than a firefight isn't it?"

"Slightly."

He grabbed his canteen and drank a large sip of water.

"Your gun, what is it?"

"Oh, a simple laser pistol."

I bypassed him and his flabbergasted expression to reach Lilith. She had pinned the block of ink to the wall with a bowie knife through his wings.

"Useful infos?"

She looked at me, eyebrow raised. "From a spirit?"

She twisted the knife, destroying his physical shell and sending his diminished essence back to the Shadow.

"Strangely, quite a lot. Though not directly." She sheathed her weapon. "It wasn't created or attracted by the murder of all those workers, he was awakened by them."

"And what does that mean?" Asked Nihlus, apparently having recovered of my casual owning of a DEW. Or at least, had decided that it could wait until after we were out of the tunnels full of murderous spirits.

She turned toward him. "Spirits are usually birthed by an emotional peak or event, in the case of this one it probably was either a strong death or a large number of. But, it wasn't the one of those workers. There is just not enough of them. From what I got, it was born amongst the: countless death at the hand of the living metal giant and survived on the slow death of all."

"Does that mean anything to you?" Asked the Spectre.

I shrugged. "Probably talking about the Reapers."

"The what?"

"Reaper. Giant machine the size of dreadnought who kill every advanced species in the galaxy every 50 000 years or so. Quite pathetic and boring if you want my opinion."

"What!?"

"Doesn't matter. What does he meant by the slowly dying corpses?"

"Not sure, but if I had to guess I would say..." Commenced Lilith.

"Wait! Can we go back to the giant galaxy killing machine please." Nihlus quite rudely interjected.

"Later."

"But..."

"Now, as I was saying, this planet was probably colonised by one of the species from the previous cycle. Considering the Prothean beacon, probably them. The slow dead probably mean that they either had the biological capacity to hibernate for very long period of time, as in several millenia which make it hard to believe, or maybe had found a way, accidentally or not, to produce the same effect. Maybe some kind of place where time pass differently or more likely an advanced form of cryogeny."

"I'm sorry, but as much as this is interesting, what about the machines that killed the Protheans?"

"And other races, every 50 000 years. Later I told you."

I rolled my eyes. He maybe was a so call elite Spectre, but he seemed really obsessed with the unimportant details. "Okay, so we are sitting atop a giant tomb. Does that change anything important to the mission?"

"Maybe. I wasn't sure before, but now... Seriously, what does this whole situation looks like to you?"

"Which situation?"

"The storm, the spirits, all of it."

"Hum... dramatic? Show off and dangerous ... precipitated. Even too much to be natural."

"Exactly."

Nihlus, again. "What are you talking about?"

"This whole thing, this storm blocking all technology, all signals, this guard of zombies and spirits left to wander. It's too big, much too big. Even in panic, nobody would be that supernaturally obvious. It's like someone wanted to make us believe that this was a panic reaction that someone had wanted to hide their action behind a metaphorical veil of explosions while all it would realistically do is attract attention."

She was looking at both of us, expecting an answer like a teacher in front of particularly dumb student.

Nihlus was the first to answer. "So it's a trap then."

"Yes. A trap hidden as false diversion. Which, in normal circumstance, would totally work."

I nodded. "Yeah, totally."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, just put something weird enough around and we're like moths to a flame."

"Not the metaphor I would have used, but not a bad one. Now though come the real question."

"Did the contractor knew it was one or not."

"The contractors is Maximilian."

"Oh. Yeah, we were totally sent just to trigger the trap then."

"Maximilian?" Said Nihlus.

"An 8000 years old wyvern."

"8000 years old!"

Lilith shook her head. "You know, you really need to stop overreacting to everything we say."

"Overeacting to an 8000 years old wiv... wyn..."

"Wyvern."

"Yes, and a race of killing machine and DEW and magic!"

"Yes, it's a little tiring."

And with that she turned around and resumed her walks into the tunnel.

Nihlus was looking at us with a dumbfounded expression, or I think it was one. His face is really not that expressive to a human. It's all those solid plates really.

"What? Didn't you just established that this whole thing is a trap?"

Lilith shrugged. "Sure. But we still have been hired to do a job, only mean I will raise the price. In any case, let's continue. I scanned the place long enough to know where to go."

xxxxxxxx

We resumed our walk, now guided by Lilith throughout the labyrinth of hastily dug tunnels. Nihlus though spent the twenty minutes from our little fight to our arrival at the dig site, or at least under it, asking me questions.

"How long have supernatural had DEW?"

"Okay, first, you think of us as much more closer than we are. We are not a nation or something in the like, only individuals with powers. We could be categorized by race and maybe by large common interest group but that's it. There is no 'supernatural' group, like you seem to think."

"Very well, then how long have you had this pistol?"

"A couple of years, but if you want to know how long some people have known how to make them. It'd say it was sometime around the middle of the 21th century. A hundred years ago or so."

"That long. But then..."

"Why don't we all walk around with lasers? Because if magic might help create the impossible, it is always on a unique basic. There is no way to have magically mass produced laser and they wouldn't even last in a large fight because of humans. Though, with all the effort put into it, I have no doubt that one day, someone will find a way to build portable laser weapon without the use of magic."

Hopefully, it will be the European Union and not the other who discovers it first.

"You seem to be very confident of that. And strangely enthusiastic about it."

"What do you mean, strangely."

"Oh, it is simply that with all of your power and what you use, I didn't think that you would be interested in scientific progress."

"Of course I am. Science is vital for the development of humanity and capable of truly incredible feats. In fact, science is in many ways much more powerful than magic."

"Hum, I see. Another question, how were you able to go behind them, and what were they?"

"Simple, Lilith warped the space inside the tunnel so that it became a close circle. That way, no enemy could escape and we could both be fighting. And as for them, some kinds of undead."

"Undead as in resurrected human?"

"Nah, an undead is just an animated body with no soul, dead flesh moved by strings."

"Animated, how?"

I shrugged. "There are many ways, none I am an expert into it. Though, if I had to guess, those that we fought were probably powered by essence, using it as fuel."

"How?"

"No idea. I've known a couple of necromancers that used mana to animate a corpse, but my sword never had that affect on them. So, I can only guess that whatever created those zombies did so by pouring essence into them which then went on autopilot."

"Is Essence something that naturally animate the dead?"

"No. Essence is spiritual energy. Your body use electrical signals to move and work, well essence does kinda the same. Think of it as something akin to spiritual lifeforce. The undead effect is probably because of the death spirit that gave them the essence."

"Are those facts or speculations?"

"Mix of both. After millenia uncovering every bit of knowledge we could on the supernatural, most of it is still a complete mystery to us."

"Very well, if you say so. And this space thing... is it, common?"

It was Lilith that answered. She was the Space master after all. "No. It's harder to be subtle when you manipulate space like that. Two giants portals on each side of the corridor would have done the same thing, but it wouldn't have been very discreet."

"Ah. Hum, can you... teleport thing?" He seemed to hesitate on the word, as if he had still trouble believing it could even be asked seriously.

Lilith sighed. "Yes I can. And to answer your interrogation, yes. If I was sufficiently determined, I could teleport the entire Citadel or Palaven into a supernova. But, just thinking of the week long ritual needed for something like that makes me nauseous."

"But could you do it?"

"Yes. Me and probably a lot of other mages. But don't worry. If we didn't do it during your attack of Shanxi, there are few chances we would do it now. Though, if our species ever were to be at war, not sure what would happen."

Yet, that didn't mean we would do it. Lilith was good at that, reassuring him while leaving the threat of his whole capital world being burn to ash in an instant present. And by the look on his face, he understood perfectly. I think the Turian just got a new anti-war partisan.

"But enough with that. We're there."

xxxxxxxx

Even without Lilith, it would have been very hard to miss the place where the beacon had been originally found seeing as it was now an open hole more than ten meters wide leading directly into some kind dark underground complex. The whole thing seemed to have somehow collapsed into itself as the roof over us was a mix of compacted earth, archaeological equipment and even what I think was an actual bulldozer stuck in there.

"Okay, the Protean sure liked to build big." I said.

I grabbed a rock and dropped it down the hole. Half a minute latter, we heard the sound of the impact.

"Really big."

Right then, my omni-tool turned back on. Even the extranet was back on, which I deactivated immediately. Sure I had an awesome supernatural level firewall, but that doesn't mean I need to make a myself a bigger target than the bare minimum. I start to think I'm untouchable and next thing I'll know, everybody will be able to hack into my communications. With the contact on my left eye back on, I zoomed on the underground structure. The whole thing was gigantic, and also had thousand of tiny dots all over the walls, not enough to light anything though so what was their purpose?

"Guess the werewolves anti-technology field don't work down there. Odd. You think the place is protected or something like that?"

Lilith shook her head. "No, they just choose to take it down. Don't know why though. But this place is old, really old. There is a stench..."

I switched on my mage sight, lifting the veil. Beyond analysing auras and spells and other details depending on the arcana used, the mage sight spell is also good to examine the main emotions associated with a place. It this case, there was a heavy sense of death permeating the whole structure, to the point it muted everything else. The moment I felt it, it was as if a cloak of lead had fallen on my lungs, the air became wet and heavy and there was this smells of rot and putrefaction that filled my mouth. Underneath though, I could also feel a strong taste of warm blood, almost as if it was seething on my tongue. Death and violence, a bad combination for a place as old as this one. The emotion had stewed for centuries, millenia, fusing with the place until it was seeping from the wall, like a thick sickness. Nothing good would happen here. Sure it wouldn't be as obvious as movies make it look like, but people would be more prone to anger, more depress. Any expedition sent there would quickly turn into a mess with possible lethal results.

"You know, maybe we should make sure nobody else find this place."

"We have neither the time nor the means to do so Solomon."

"I know, still...

"How do we get down?" Asked Nihlus. "We don't have the material or even ropes."

"Take a deep breath and keep calm." Lilith answered before putting her hand down on our shoulder.

The very next instant, we were standing on one of the large catwalk that ran along the walls. At least this time she had given me a warning.

"W... was that...?" He tried to say in the middle of gasping for breath.

"Teleportation, yes. But chut, we're not alone."

She was right, I couldn't see it from above the hole, but down here it was obvious. As I said, the whole structure was ridiculously large. Over a hundred meters high at least and definitely some thirty meters wide and flying around or on the ground were thousands of spirits like the one on the tunnel. Most seemed to be sort of sleeping, not moving, but just waiting to be woke up. I suppose that a death or an act of violence particularly brutal would suffice to awake a few. On the wall, the emergency lights I had seen earlier formed some kinds of hexagonal shape at regular interval aligned with the catwalk. It did not take a genius to understand that these were probably cryogenic coffins. Especially when I could feel the souls still lingering inside them. They were weak, slowly blinking out, almost as if old, which was strange for souls which are by definition ageless.

"Are they still alive?"

Lilith nodded.

"Yes. And look at this sigil."

Written on each of the coffins was a sigil. Though, it was neither Atlantean, neither First Tongue, neither Draconis, in fact, I had no idea what it was exactly nor did my translation program. And that thing had a french-old Assyrian dictionary.

"Okay, so what do we do?"

"Nothing. We get the beacon and we get out."

"I meant about the fact this whole thing is a trap?"

"Well, by that point I am pretty sure the enemy know we are coming and know we know it's a trap. Unless they think we are idiot and don't think we know it's a trap. In either case, our best chance to get through this with the beacon is to blast through and run away before they realize we are not probably the ones for who this trap was for."

"And if it was for anyone?"

"Then they will let us get away anyway."

"And if the guys organizing this is also a pawn in someone else plan and don't know this is a trap?"

She chuckled lightly at that.

"Solomon, be serious for a moment.

"So, where are we going?" Nihlus cut in.

"That way."

"Why?"

"There is more spirits that way."

* * *

Now, the day had been fairly strange and bizarre in its own right, especially for Nihlus, but compared to what happened next, it was nothing. The first clue something was wrong was when our GPS started to go bonkers, but that was mild enough for us to ignore it. What was harder to ignore was way the environment started to morph around us. The straight line of the wall started to feel curved or angular depending on how you were looking at them, the ground and walls then completely disappeared under the mass of black spirits, until it felt like we were walking into a black abyss without any sense of up or down. We walked through this foggy darkness in complete silence, a sense of extreme dread preventing us from voicing our nervousness, as if it would disturb something better left asleep. With each breath I took, I felt like I was swallowing some of the darkness surrounding us, clogging my lungs with it.

Nevertheless, we continued on this path, even if each step seemed to take us closer to our end. The hard metal under our feet gave way to rock and fool smelling moss that cried as if it was feeling the weight of our feet. A dim yellow light seemed to be coming from... nowhere actually. It was seeping from the walls, dripping from the rocky roof and forming puddle on the ground. Light in liquid form, a sick liquid that covered us. I could hear something moving around, no, more like around was moving, as if the rock was less mineral and more organic underneath, as if the light breeze I could feel passing on my skin was the slow respiration of some unimaginable beast. We followed the twisting tunnel until we reached an opening to some sort of large silo. If in itself the thing was a little surprising, it was what composed it that was unsetlling. Here, the walls were visible moving, expanding and retracting. They felt hard and moist to the touch, covered in thousand of tiny hair like protrusion reacting to touch by swelling around my fingers.

"Any idea Lilith?"

"A few, none reassuring. Though, the only thing I can say is that this place is not in the material world."

"Sorry?" Asked the Spectre.

"We have been slowly ascending for the last half an hour, by now we should be some a hundred and a half meters over the surface. And now to verify my worst theory, Solomon, Prime sight please."

I obliged her demand and immediately regretted it. Suddenly, the world became pitch black around me, there was no aura, no magic, no essence, nothing. I was in a deserted plain, an empty universe save for one thing, itself. Still now, I can't really explain what it was, only that it was something far greater than myself. It wasn't staring at me, it was staring through me, gazing at the place I was coming from with emotions I couldn't even begin to apprehend. It existed beyond the mere limitation of space and lived disconnected from the crude thing that is linear time. Undying, for it had never lived. To it, the past and future were mere concept, an eternal present its only state of conscience. Never learning yet never forgetting, it saw the universe and understood more about it in a second that our civilisation had since its begining.

To quote one of the greatest Mastigos and maddest traveller of the Astral: It was an All-in-One and One-in-All of limitless being and self — not merely a thing of one Space-Time continuum, but allied to the ultimate animating essence of existence's whole unbounded sweep — the last, utter sweep which has no confines and which outreaches fancy and mathematics alike.

This living world morphed around me, twisting and twitching as it tried to take another form, but not in mere minutes but in eons, moving through ages and millenia as I watched powerlessly, maybe trying to communicate or just because it was its nature, I will never know because I broke the contact, for a mere moment more spent contemplating this existence that passed in a blink yet lasted longer than our universe would have turned me insane with knowledge beyond human understanding.

When I reopened my eyes, I realized I was on my back.

"How long was I out?"

"Fifteen minutes, shaking and speaking in atlantean."

"Oh..." I couldn't finish my sentence before the urge to vomit overtook me. It was a tick bluish liquid that hit the ground, a trembling blob from which a large slug emerged.

"Hum, Lovecraft then."

I nodded. "Yep."

On the side, Nihlus was boiling with questions.

"What the hell happened! Spirit! I want...!"

"Lovecraft." I gasped between breath, trying to regain some form of composure.

"What?"

"Who."

I was pretty sure he was ready to punch me right now so I explained.

"Lovecraft was an author, among many other things, whose 'stories' often had eldritch horrors, the kind I just had a glimpse of. What this very dangerous maneuver, thank you Lilith by the way..."

"Cry baby, I would have pulled you out."

"Yeah, still just lived an entire universe life here. Anyway." I turned back to the turian. " What we learned because of that is where we are currently in a damn Inbetween."

"Between what and what?"

"The universes."

"And I guess this is not good."

It was Lilith who continued the lore dump.

"The Void between the universe is a place of primal creation, of literal alien gods, chaotic forces and what can only be qualified as Things or Eldritch. So no, this is not good. Hell would be a better fate than being stranded here. And also, no Solomon we are not quite in an Inbetween, more likely someone drew a little of it into the material world and now it's just a bundle of space and time."

I got on my feet. "Space okay, but time?"

She smiled. "I just contacted the pack, there have been three minutes since our last conversation for them. Forty-five for us."

"Oh, damn. So, what now?"

"We go down."

"Down?" Both Nihlus and I said.

She pointed at the exit to the silo and the organic stairs of dark grey bones that had grew out of the wall.

"Yes, down."

* * *

I don't know for how long we descended, I remember we slept at some point and hunted small spider like furry thing, made fire with purple brush, climbed a hill and passed through the ruin of a once great city of glass before arriving down the silo. There, we found both the source of this place and our goal.

The bottom of the silo was like a large cave, full of stalagmites, large and small, and plunged in an odd sort of darkness. All the light came from a large bonfire at the center of it, yet the brighter it was, the more dark the surrounding became. Around this bonfire was an altar like stone structure that somehow felt sturdier than normal rock, as if our mind could better understand how long lasting rocks are by looking at this one. And, on the structure where our dear cultists draped head to toes in heavy robes, chanting in a tongue that felt wrong, almost harmful to my hears. Knelt in circle around them were also the missing workers, all silents and naked, their bodies covered by sigil cut on their flesh and seeping a thick black fluid. And, further beyond all of this, tossed on a corner, was our objective, the protean beacon. Great.

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I turned toward Lilith.

"So, you got a plan."

"For what. Getting the beacon or stopping this?"

"The latter please. I doubt: Failed to prevent the awakening of an Elder God, will look good on my resumé."

"Me too." Added Nihlus.

"Well, I would, but it's not really our job here."

There was a moment of silence as Nihlus proceeded just what she was asking.

"You, you introduced me to this world, scared me with tales of monsters and gods and dragged me here, just so that you could ask me to pay you!"

"More or less."

"You... you..."

"Demon will suffice. And I won't ask for money, just for a favor later on."

For a moment, he seemed ready to strangle her, but then he looked at me and relaxed.

"No."

"What?"

He pointed to me. "He will stop this anyway, so no. Now what's your plan?"

She snarled at me. "I knew someday you would cost me a favor with your knight attitude."

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Her plan was actually very simple, I was the tank/dps/bait, Nihlus was the spell caster with a gun/covering fire gun and Lilith, well she was doing her own thing. But before that, there was the little bump of teaching Nihlus about powder base guns. Getting the gun was easy with Space, making him understand that he had to reload the damn thing that was something else.

"So, this is..."

"A FN HAR, yes. Now, just link it with your smartlink and..."

"My what?"

"With your omni-tool or whatever you use to link with your weapons."

"Okay." His arm flashed orange as he connected with the assault rifle. "... I don't understand anything I se."

"You don't need to, just look for the number in the low left corner, that's the number of bullets left in the magazine and the letters just beside it on the right indicate the mode of fire. The rest you don't really need to worry about."

"Very well. Were is the aim?"

"The aim? You mean the laser? It should appear on your HUD."

"The red line? Yes, but I don't see the reticule for the weapon."

"Oh, that's because it uses iron-sight."

"Iron what?"

It was hard, especially because the whole thing had to be done in whispers, but in the end he understood the basic of how to reload a magazine and aim with an iron-sight. Sure we left aside 90% of what a smartgun system can do but never mind that, we had a cult to stop. I also did not comment on the fact that he was shaking, I was glad enough he wasn't crying on the ground in foetal position. Really, he was taking all of this very well, not a lot would have had the mental strength for it.

* * *

Calmly, I rose from behind my stalagmites and casually walked up to the ceremony. Approaching, I was able to see some more details of the ritual, though not understand much. Things from the dark are not really something that you can delve into and keep your sanity, even less than normal supernatural lore that is. Actually, now that I was marching toward it, I wished nothing more than to leave, run away even, and nuke the whole site from orbit. The worst thing though, was that there was only one reason for someone to join this kind of cult, selfishness. After all, you don't really try to get the power of Azathoth for yourself in order to create jobs for the homeless. The air around them was foul, sounds were warped, as if passing through a tube, and with each step I took it was as if my limbs were being filled with lead. But, fifty percent of magic is illusion so I placated a smug smile on my head I whistled in admiration. Immediately, all of the robed cultist turned toward me. From this close, one would think I would have a better look at the five person, but only the head cultist face was visible. It was a man in his middle fifty, slightly bald, with a tired yet maniac expression. I could see signs of a worker uniform under his robes, but his hands were manicured. So diagnostic, a middle level construction manager who thought he deserved more and decided to doom a world for himself.

Ignoring the hiss coming from the masked cultist and the outraged expression of the leader, I lit up a cigarette.

"Nice place. Not sure about the lighting or altitude, but it sure as an atmosphere."

"You!" He screamed at me, finger pointed. His voice was high-pitched and frankly disagreeable, but also had an unsettling quality, just a tone on some of the word, never the same that shouldn't be possible for a human throat. "What are you doing here! How did you came here!"

"Me? Oh I just wandered a little there and over there, walked right and left and happened to find this place. What about you?"

"You... you just wandered here! Liar! Who sent you?"

"For you? Nobdoy. Actually, without the whole storm up there I doubt I would have noticed anything."

"Storm? What storm?"

"A storm. You know, it's a disturbed state of..."

"I know what a storm is you moron! Who sent you!"

"Here?" I shrugged. "Nobody sent me here, I told you I walked here. So, who you're praying to here? Flying spaghetti monster?"

His face turned tomato red. "You insolent fool! The great and all Nycla'thaop..."

"The what?"

"The great and all powerful Nycla'thaop!"

"Nycalop?"

"Nycla'thop!" He screamed violently.

"Never heard of. Though I guess that's kind of the point isn't it? Anyway and those guys, your faithful followers or you brainwashed them?" I said as I snuffed out my cigarette on the shoulder of some girl. Damn I hope they don't feel pain.

"All are destined to serve the great and all..."

"Nycaltop, yeah, yeah." So brainwashed then, great. "And this whole place, impressive, you built it yourself."

Those kinds of guys, flatter their ego just a little and they will monologue longer than a Bond vilain.

"I am the chosen herald of the never-ending Nycla'thop, he granted me powers beyond mere human understanding. I constructed this whole space of flesh and blood alone, sewing the pathetic mortal remains of the lost into walls and floors."

"So what maintains this whole place together is you, alone you can stop this place from collapsing?"

"Of course, I..."

He didn't have the time to finish his sentence before the shot rang. Standing only a couple of meters behind him, having been completely ignored until now, was Lilith, weapon raised and still smoking. Around me, all of the workers fell on the ground, groaning and half conscious. The .44 lead ball from the gun had passed through the man stomach, wounding him gravely, but not killing him. At least not before a good half-hour at the least and that was way enough time to get the hell out of this place.

In her left hand, she held a short-barrel Defiance T-250, aimed at the other figure.

"Good, now everyone stands still while we all calmly leave this place. Understood."

The robed figure still on their feet looked at each other for a second, before exploding into a whirlwind of screech and hiss and shredding their clothes. Underneath were deformed creature, mishmash of reptiles and fish with large gibbous eyes, long elongated maw with flat nose at the end and long yellow teeth, their arms were covered with thick needle like fur while their bodies were covered in shark scales. Their legs bent outward, curved, and ended in large webbed feet with sharp talon that dug into the stone with each of their movement. One of them jumped on the crying man, tearing open his wounded stomach with inhuman savagery, one jumped toward me and two rushed Lilith. Well shit.

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The thing ran toward me at inhuman speed, leaving me almost no time to react. I could have pulled out a gun, or drew my sword, I choose to cast a spell. There was no loud cartoonish thunk when he hit the telekinetic wall I summoned in front of him, but it did knock him back on his ass long enough for me to then draw my pistol and turn him into fried fish. At least, it's what I thought until he jumped back on his feet and resumed his charge. He hit me like a truck, throwing me on the ground and poncing on me. I felt his claws tighten around my right arm, trying to pierce through the reinforced cloth and failing that, to crush my bones underneath. His maw didn't stand idle either, aiming for my throat. I couldn't use my sword, my pistol was immobilized by his claws and my only free arm was pushing against his head to stop him from ripping off my face. God was I happy to have taken the wrist blade with me. With a discreet click, the heat blade on my right wrist popped out of its sheat and penetrated right through his lower jaw and into his brain, or where his brain should have been at least. There was smoke as his flesh burned and his inside turned into calcined slush. His cries went from a panicked shrill to a gurgling hiccup as a grey liquid began to flow from his eyes and the holes on the side of his head that must have been some sort of ears. As he turned limp, I pushed him aside and got back on my feet as fast as I could to see just how much fucked we were.

Unable to catch Lilith, the two monsters left no occupied eating entrails had redirected their attention to Nihlus. He was a good shot, but it was obvious that he was not used to the feel of a powder weapon and the little monsters were fast. He was using it like a bat in his left hand, the mace in his right, swinging wildly at the two bullet ridden things and using the stone formation as obstacles while Lilith was both trying to support him by shooting them on the back, and stopping the one left from completely eating the ex cult leader. Oh, and there was also the minor fact that the walls around us were rapidly tearing open, revealing a dark infinite abyss that was leaking inside like black oil.

"Lilith! We need to get out, now!"

"I know."

Without talking, we switched role. She stopped fighting to open a portal and started pushing the still unconscious people through while I drew my sword and charged the things. It wasn't a beautifully executed sword trick that I did, nor was it a manual like maneuver, those things never happen in reality, I just took the biggest swing I could and slashed the back of one of the things on Nihlus with enough strength to smash his spine. It fell on the ground with a scream, only to continue trying to claw at the Spectre legs with renewed ferocity.

A whole pan of the organic wall burst open, letting a wave of liquid darkness flow in. Whenever it made contact with stones, it boiled and hissed, burning away the rock like flames eat paper.

"God dammit! We need to hurry!"

I said that, but I knew we didn't have the time to save both ourselves and the unconscious kidnapped workers. At least that was before I felt a familiar shiver on my neck accompanied by the distinct physical feeling of being one place one instant and then being dropped at another the following one. For a brief moment, I was sure we had been swallowed by the darkness and ended up inside the thing on the other side. But, the mere fact that I was able to think this proved otherwise. No, the truth was that we were back into the Prothean tomb, the workers scattered around us on the ground, Lilith waving on her feet a little further and Nihlus beside me. Holy crap, she had just pulled off a massive teleportation. How the hell was she still consc... and she fell on the ground, bleeding from the nose and unconscious. I was ready to rush at her side when Nihlus committed a beginner's mistake, the kind that doom everyone around.

"Spirit. The situation can't get any worse."

And of course, next thing we know there is a giant red beam that pass through the roof and turn everything into explosions and me into unconsciousness. Well shit.

**Ordo Codex**

Maximilian (Article pending correction)

Maximilian, nickname Wyvern (or Little dragon by some in the know) is a magical creature that was born some 8000 years ago by the action of a now forgotten mage. What is known, is that he intended to attain immortality by transferring his soul and mind inside an immortal creature of his creation mirroring the dragons of Atlantis. The precise details are unknown, but it is believed (a.k.a what he told us) that the mage began foolishly by transferring his soul and thus turned back into a Sleeper. He died shortly after that. In the following millenia, Maximilian developed his magical abilities as a Thyrsus, notably the art of shape-shifting, and more common talents which he too improved with time. (Seriously, never challenge the guy to a dart game) Few things are known for certain about his history beside what he told himself, but it is pretty certain that he followed Hannibal in the second Punic wars, was with Cesar during his conquest of Gaul, settled in England during Hadrien time, spent most of the 9th to 14th century in Asia, fought for the patriots during the Revolutionary war on a bet, fought for the German during WW1 and with the british on the second, went with the West during the cold war on a coin toss, spent most of the 21th century accumulating doctorates and the first half of the 22th doing space exploration before, some time after the first contact with the Citadel races, build up his own mercenary organization, _Militaires Sans Frontières_. (Apparently the name come from something he worked on a long time ago.) In his real form, Maximilian looks like a frigate size Wyvern with fiery red scales, emerald eyes and the ability to breathe fire. Unfortunately for everyone, as a magical creature Maximilian suffers the effect of human disbelief in his real form, being slowly erased from reality. Going by his personal comment again, it is really painful.

M.S.F

A Private Military Company, _Militaires sans frontières_ was founded in 2170 by Maximilian Saeder. Of a relatively small size, the company can honestly boast about bleeding edge European gear and highly trained effectives. What it doesn't boast about, is that all employees are supernatural in some measure. Though few are full-fledged mage or vampire or werewolves or other, M.S.F is probably the highest concentration of Esper, Sleepwalker, Wolf-blooded and other. M.S.F gained a reputation for discretion and high effectiveness in the few years since its creation, as well as tense relation with the other great names of the mercenary world and the medias. The organisation operates from a Carrier, never staying long in one place. Lastly, a rarely seen characteristic outside Earth forces, M.S.F makes common use of like dogs and other animal, often augment either biologically or mechanically.

* * *

Review if you feel like it.


	8. Changes: part 1

Hey, new chapter. This one is going at lightspeed pace so sorry for that. The next one should be a little more slow. Now, as for the technologies that will be seen in this chapter and the ones following, I am just taking the tech we have now and giving them a century and a half of development. Also, I like cyberpunk.

skizzr: Your welcome. As for a summary, I'm not sure exactly how I would do that.

admiral saris: You know, me too a little. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

_Atlantean_

**Spirit Tongue**

-personal thoughts-

* * *

Ever noticed how in the first game after Shepard get knocked out, they just up and leave. I know Shepard and co killed a lot of geth and stop the bombs, but there must be tons still left on the planet. And the moment Shepard get wounded, this top of the art super frigate that would have helped a lot just jump away. Nice move for the colony. And after that the Alliance wonder why the colonists don't like them

* * *

**Changes**: part 1

Debriefing

The first thing Nihlus noticed when he woke up was the typical hospital blinding white light over him. He had never really understood the principle behind that and it had always annoyed him. When the patient was being operated on, sure, but apart from those times couldn't the light be at least turned down a little. You know, so you don't brutally blind the patients the first time they open their eyes. The second thing he noticed was that he was out of his armor and lying down, though he wasn't feeling any pain or restraints, meaning he probably wasn't in a hostile hospital. That was good, especially since the last thing he remembered was fighting some kinds of canine/fish monsters along a fire flinging sword fighter in an underground tomb full of the frozen corpses of an extinct species to which they owned most of their technologies. That and the whole thing crashing down on him. Yeah, maybe he also needed to check in for a possible concussion. Not that he was really worried, but just to be sure.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. The bright light, the white decor, the uncomfortable beds, the sterile smells, the quietly beeping machines, definitely a med bay. His least favorite place on the world after an asari prison. Seriously, forget the batarian, when it came to torture the asari were the real masters. He groaned and looked around. To his right, a human in white cloth was looking at a screen. To his left was Shepard, resting apparently undamaged. Then, he looked at himself. Head, felt mostly fine beyond the headache, arms were good and responsive, torso check, left leg okay, right leg... problem. He couldn't feel it, that was the first sign something was wrong, and the sheet didn't have the bump it should, second sign and confirmation of the worst. He stayed immobile, incapable to detach his sight from the missing piece of himself, something that should have been there, but was now lost, to the point he didn't even notice the frenetic beeping from the machine to his side, nor the doctor who rushed toward him or the sting of the needle that sent him back into oblivion.

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"Your leg was infected by some new extremely aggressive bacteria, a kind I had never seen before. Had I waited any longer and it's more that your leg than I would have had to cut."

"I see."

He had feel something back on the cave when fighting, a sudden and brief coldness on his leg that he had dismiss immediately. Simple claws aren't supposed to be able to pierce modern armor. Again, he had been wrong. If his gear continued to perform as well, maybe he should switch to fighting naked with a knife between his teeth. Though now this was all wishful thinking.

"I am sure you won't have too much problems finding a mechanical replacement."

Nihlus couldn't hold back a twitch at her confident tone. As if that was the point. "Have you ever seen any turian serving with a prosthetic? Or a human?"

He sure as hell never had, except for one, Saren. Where he had found such an advanced piece of gear?

"Sorry for that." She sounded truly apologetic. "But see the bright side, at least your alive. That's more than what most of the planet garnison can say."

He winced. That was a good blow.

-Yeah, at least I am still alive. And still mostly high on meds which help my moods quite a lot.-

He turned to his right. "And what is wrong with her?"

"I don't know. She was brought back in this state. Her vitals are normal and stable, but her mental waves are completely chaotic."

"I see." -So she has bad dreams.- "And what about the others?"

"The others?"

"Those beside me."

"I have no knowledge of anyone else having been brought in. Maybe you should ask the recovery team about this."

He nodded. Now that was something intriguing.

"But now that you're awake, I have some tests to make."

-Dammit.-

* * *

It wasn't easy to get up, between the new balance to figure out and the protestations of the human doctor. But Nihlus was nothing if stubborn and after some hard negotiation with Dr. Chakwas, a proud follower of the tyrannical doctor tradition, he left the med bay with a crutch under his arm.

He felt naked without his armor and only his civilian clothes on. Actually, he couldn't really remember the last time he had been out of his armor. A day earlier he was one of the best commando in the galaxy, now he had trouble just walking five meters. Thanks Spirits for the drugs in his system or he might have had a breakdown right in the elevator. Thinking about this, he made his way to the hangar bay were apparently two of the soldier who found him where. He had a couple of questions for them.

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"So, you found the bug in our translators?"

"Nope. And I don't understand why our armor jammed."

"Maybe it's some kinds of signal that the giant ship can send. Like it hacked our armor?"

"Please Jenkins, that's movie stuff."

The human, Jenkins, he knew, but the woman he was talking with, he didn't remember seeing anywhere on the ship oi on their way to the colony. Where had she came from, Alliance special forces?

"Private Jenkins!" He called, walking in the hangar.

The man jumped to attention, saluting. The women though, stayed sit, a slight expression of contempt on her face. Oh great, the same expression he had seen on countless human still pissed because of a decade old war that they had unofficially won. 'Damn, we pushed back the military powerhouse of the Citadel with outdated tech and a patchwork militia, grrr, damn aliens. We'll get our revenge!' Well, then he best be on his best behavior didn't he. It was always fun to fight the racist with politeness and adherence to protocol.

He saluted back as best he could with the crutch.

"And you are?" She asked.

"Spectre Nihlus."

He could see the fight between her opinion of his species and the discipline that had been drilled into her when she got up to salute.

"Gunnery-sergeant Ashley, sir."

He nodded. "At ease. You were both on the team that found me, is it right?"

"Yes sir."

"Was there other people there beside me?"

They both looked uncomfortable, avoiding his eyes.

"I see, dead then." That was quite a big fucking step back.

"Hum, not really." Jenkins hesitated.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after Shepard saved sergeant Ashley from the Prothean beacon..."

"She what?"

"Huu, it's a long story."

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A long story later, involving the sudden failure of all of their gear because of an EMP, their face-to-face with wild dogs from which they were saved only because another group of dog decided to attack them, then reboot of their gear, the following tracking through the land, encounter with the giant spaceship that descended upon the colony and their encounter with Geth forces, then fought their way through until they reached the collapsed dig site where they went down and found a horde of Geth and a Turian, Saren he informed them, doing something with a half buried beacon, forcing them to retreat and discovered him as well as several other unconscious human all thrown in a corner. Then, the beacon activated, trapping Ashley, Shepard pushed her out of the way, giggled in the air and fell on the ground. With the commander down, the Lieutenant made the decision to retreat to the ship. They contacted the Normandy, evacuated and called the colony forces to come take care of the other humans. In short.

As Jenkins and Ashley finished their tale, Nihlus stayed silent. He wanted to sigh and bash his head against the table in front of such incompetence, but he knew that they acted almost exactly like a turian team would have.

"Very well, what was the colony response?"

"You'd have to ask commander Anderson for that." She answered.

-Of course. If he even has called the colony.-

"And what about the Geth forces? Their ships? How well was the colony faring against them?"

"Hem..."

"Jenkins, isn't that your homeworld?"

He looked away. "The commander's order..."

"Where to retreat, yes. But didn't you inquire about the state of your homeworld since then."

"I... I..." For a very brief moment, Nihlus saw the tension on the young human's face, then, it snapped back. "A good soldier obey his superior."

-That, was not normal. Even by human standards.-

"...I see. Thank you for your answer."

Jenkins nodded while the woman just kept her scornful look as he walked away. He wanted to scream, just like he had wanted to scream at most turian team he ever worked with. From afar, they all looked professional and competent. But then you look closer and you start to notice the little details, the lack of thought around some action and a general lack of initiative or basic reflection. Though, the worst was probably the suicidal tendency he could observe from everyone. Yes, barrier were good, but he had last the number of times he had seen even good soldiers simply stand up and take shots like if it made them invulnerable until it invariably surchage and then it was over.

This was actually a real factor in the human resistance during the Relay incident. With weaker barrier technology, they just kept in cover more than the Turian and the result spoke for themselves. But barely a couple of years and that seemed to be gone.

With those frankly confusing thoughts in mind, he made his way to the spot where his gear had been placed. His once fine armor was now in pieces, covered in deep scratches, dirt, mud and other rubbish. Any soldier would have been horrified by this, but to him it only served to reassure him that he wasn't insane or had dreamt anything that had happen. He was also strangely excited, it had been a long time since a mission had made him dirty his armor like a real soldier. He was also terrified because by the Spirits some creature with simple claws had dug into his modern armor like it wasn't even there. Billions of credits in development and thousand in production and that was what he ended up with, some glorified cardboard that had cost him his leg. And now, he was as useless as two asari matriarch trying to choose the color of a carpet.

* * *

They reached the Citadel in a record time which Nihlus used to find one of the few heat knife on the ship. Actually he had to buy one from the quartermaster. Then, tried it against another set of armor, which he also had to buy. Really, the Alliance way of equipping their soldiers was puzzling at best. The knife cuts through it like butter, melting the edge into slag and turning the metal red.

-Memo for the future, never get into a fight with someone holding a heat knife.-

He also continued to dive into the extranet, even the limited version he had due to being in FTL speed, to extract every information he could on humanity. Information he found to be very limited. Oh sure, there was plenty of articles about what kind of tech they used, which were almost all perfect copy of the articles about the tech used by the other races. Anything unique developed by humanity was lucky to have more than a couple of lines, all the technical details being hidden behind company sites, forums or other, all currently inaccessible. Spirit, either this was a cover up on massive scale, or nobody in the galaxy had bothered to look at humanity technologies beyond what the Alliance showed them. He didn't know which one would be the worst. In any case, he really needed to have a discussion with the STG, or Bau at the least.

And lastly, he tried to get use to his missing limb. To be short, it wasn't a great success. In more details, Nihlus felt like each step was a fight against gravity and the environment trying to throw him on the ground. One he wasn't getting any better at it no matter how much he tried.

* * *

He was standing by the pilot when they left FTL near the Citadel. As always, he found the spectacle to be magnificent. Not the Citadel in itself that got boring after the second time, but the giant nebula that surrounded it. Every time, he could only be taken away by how they dwarfed every accomplishment of the living, be it by their size or age, especially when compared with the Citadel. It was his mother who had given him this passion, back on his first home.

"Communication for you."

He turned toward the pilot, Moreau was it, taken out of his reflections.

"It's from the Council."

Of course it was them. Hidding a sigh, he nodded.

"I'l take it on my omni-tool."

He left the room for a more private place, a.k.a, the airlock.

xxxxxxxx

"Yes?"

"Nihlus, what the hell happened!?"

Of course Tevos, always the one for long distance call. Nihlus theory was that she did because it was the least likely way she was going to be exposed to physical threat. She was a bit of a coward like that.

"Councilior Tevos. Could you be more precise?"

"I just read your report." A heavily edited version of the event Nihlus had written, where he got lost into the fog, fought the geths, then got ambushed by Saren and lost consciousness. "What the hell is that?"

"A report of what happened."

"We sent you to retrieve a Prothean beacon without trouble and you find the way to stumble upon a Geth invasion, and not only that but you also lost the beacon! This is just like with the previous human..."

She continued like that for a moment, blaming him, the humans, saying she should have sent Tela, etc. A less experimented Spectre might have tried to argue, but Nihlus knew it was an exercise in futility when it came to the Councilors. Like all of the other, he would just nod as she reprimanded him, then turn around and do as he pleased anyway. In the end, her long rant boiled down to; what happened with the beacon? Is Saren really rogue? And, are the Geth back?

"Councilior Tevos, from the report I got from the extract team, which I included in my report, the beacon was destroyed after having interacted with Shepard and his still at the colony. What I am more concerned about his what is Saren doing with a Geth army? Have you been able to contact him yet?"

"Yes, though he denies having been near Eden Prime."

"And he is too busy to come to the Citadel." It wasn't a question, just a statement.

"Yes." From Tevos tone, he knew she shared his thought on the subject. "Are you sure you don't have any proof?"

"Nothing but my word and the corrupted recording of the rescue team."

He heard her sigh. "Very well. We'll prepare a hearing for when Shepard will have recovered. And Sparatus want to talk with you."

She ended the conversation just as the ship connected with the docking bay. It was is turn to sigh, Sparatus was the last one he wanted to talk to right now.

* * *

Limping with his crutch, he left the Normandy behind him. Ten meters out of the airlock and he already he could feel the eyes of everyone staring at him. Physical disability were a rare sight these days on the galaxy in any civilized place. Even more so on the Presidium. Not because people got less injured, more because they learned not to hang around certain places. People, and by that he meant the most numerous race of the Citadel the asari, didn't like to be remembered of their imperfection and by extension, there was a certain stigma around prosthetic that had slowed down their development. Though that wasn't the worst thing to come out of it. Nobody liked to talk about it, but the lost of limbs almost always led to the suicide of the asari in question. And the Republic wasn't likely to address the problem any time soon. The salarian did push the tech more, but with their limited life they often preferred to focus on enhancing rather than restoring. As for turians, prosthetic had a reputation for falling into combat and so, wounded turians were expected to take on more rear-echelon roles. Something he wouldn't do, especially right now. But it was exactly what Sparatus would hint at.

* * *

**Sparatus' Office**

The heavy silence was only broken by the faint buzzing coming from the heater or Sparatus irregular grunts as he read the report in front of Nihlus, not offering to let him sit down. Oh yes, he was pushing his message strong. Finally, after some fifteen minutes of uncomfortable silence, he rose his head from his computer to look at the Spectre.

"So, another mess. It seems they follow human Spectres like a varren follow a krogan."

"I doubt they can really be held accountable for the Geth invasion."

Though they could for all of the rest he didn't put into the report.

"Even, first with Anderson and Saren. Now, with Shepard and you. It seems they always manage to make us loss something valuable and emerge unscathed."

Nihlus knew he could argue that one, Shepard was unconscious after all. But it wasn't the point of Sparatus comment.

"You don't have spent much time with her, but what's your opinion of her?"

"From what I have heard from the crew and the report of her team, she is a damn lucky soldier."

"Lucky?"

"Extremely."

"I was expecting a more grounded analysis."

"You already have gigabits of those."

Which were given to secretaries that shorten it all to approximately a page. Like any high-level politician, the councilors read few thing beside secretaries resume. And Sparatus had always hated reading those sanitized reports.

Sparatus smirked. "Go on."

"As a leader, she seems to expect her team to position themselves, not giving them position and formation. With highly trained soldiers that could work, but with more regular troops that could be a disaster. Militarly speaking, she's a commando made to lead commando."

"I see. What would you recommend?"

"Frankly, I have barely any idea how she acts in combat and no idea about her social skills, how she handles diplomacy or secrecy. I would need to spend more with her in different contexts to know."

Sparatus nodded for a moment.

"Yes. It would be the best solution for you. To observe her, maybe work together for a while." Nihlus didn't miss the glance to his missing leg. "But there is a more urgent problem."

"Saren."

"Yes. Him. I don't care about proof Nihlus, I know he his not careless enough to leave anything behind. So, I want your true opinion. Did he betray the Council or is this some long shot undercover plan?"

In all honesty, Nihlus knew he couldn't be a hundred percent sure. That wouldn't be the first time a Spectre fake to go rogue in order to take down a threat and has to burn a few things in doing so.

"Right now I can't say for sure. But we should probably still send someone after him. Either he is rogue and we need to bring him down, or he is not and we will only add to the credibility of his story by chasing."

For a moment, Sparatus didn't said anything, simply nodding as he reviewed some files on his computer and sent some message. Then.

"Very well Nihlus, try to get some rest and help. We'll contact you once we reach a decision."

No, they already had took a decision. He would be sent as a chaperon for Shepard once she would wake up in order to chase Saren. However this would end though, he wouldn't come back from it. Going down in a blaze of glory against a rogue murderer before his missing limbs could tarnish his image. Well, he could at least fake it. Again, it wouldn't be the first time it happened in Spectre history. Protest were useless by this point and would only harm his rather advantageous position. Advantageous, because since he was now considered on an commanded crash path, he could ask a lot to the Council without arousing suspicions.

"And you really need to find some evidence of Saren crimes."

Or make them yourself, but he didn't need to say that.

* * *

**Presidium**

A little awkwardly, he sat into the automated taxi and programmed a ride to one of his safe-house. He had a few calls to make to old friends and colleagues. Now, if Saren was moving with the Geth, he needed to contact some people monitoring the Pegasus Veil and he also needed to reach the Alliance about Eden Prime and maybe tracking what was happening there and contact the Shadow Broker probably through one of his best agent, Vasir, and, and, wait... why was he stopping?

Brought back from his thoughts by the sudden stop, he looked around only to realize he had left the Presidium and reached some unnamed alley into the sectors. It wasn't to say it was empty though. All around him, were colored lights blazing into the eternal twilight of the Citadel and clubs with lines after lines of youngs men and women from all races in front of them, though the asari were the most numerous at well over 50% of those in line. Why in hell was he here? Was it some kind of publicity stunt for some dumb club? He looked at the one he had apparently been dropped in front of: Janus' doors. What kind of name was that?

There was a series of tap against the window of the taxi that made him turn his head. On the other side was some kinds of mix between a human and a krogan. All in muscles, Nihlus felt like they were a flexion away from bursting, the thing was nine feet tall, his fingers had the size of a stick baton and his skin seemed as rough and inflexible as stone.

"Sir."

His voice was like a low rumble, like if stones were falling down a hill. And even though he was doing his best to speak softly, he had a booming quality that buried the nearest discussions.

"We best hurry if you do not want to be late."

"What?"

Without answering, the giant opened the taxi door and motioned for him to get out. And in that instant, Nihlus felt the more vulnerable than he had ever been and he despised the the feeling with a burning hatred. Before, he could have escaped, fought or do a thousand things to deal with the situation. Now, without his leg, he couldn't even stand up properly.

"Follow me."

xxxxxxxx

They bypassed the rather long line along the alley and walked into the club. From outside, it looked like any building in the Sectors, a wall of dull metal to which bright lights and other things had been bolted to ease the inhabitant lives. But immediately, he could see something odd. The front door was in wood. Not an automatic door with holographic lock, but a spirit damn heavy double door of black wood. As he passed the threshold, the giant handed him a pair of holo-visor.

"You will need this sir."

A little uncertain, Nihlus put the thing on. What, were they expecting him to shoot something or wh... Spirit! As he walked farther inside, the whole decor changed around him. Before, it had been an oddly silent and pitch dark room from which he could hear the sound of several people moving and talking. Now though, the music was just comfortable enough to his ears, the walls and floor were made of transparent glass that reacted to each of his step with a pulse of light, through the exterior wall he could see what seemed to be giant coral along with neon fish dancing on the other side of the glass. Then, there was the dance floor. Some of the dancers seemed to be surrounded by little dots of colors moving with them, other were ablaze with rainbow flames or literal flames in human form, a couple he could see had some sort of electrical images moving on their skins and some were even floating into the air. Frantically, he removed the glass only to be met with the darkness again.

"What?"

"AR sir."

"AR?"

"Augmented reality sir."

"Like for video games."

"Yes, though it is a rather crude and limited use of it. Now please, we need to get going."

Nihlus put the visor back on, immersing himself back into the virtual world. How the fuck did they manage to pack such tech into visor. Spirit, they needed a freacking chair to do the same! Without waiting for his brain to catch up, the mastodon led him through the crowd of mostly human clubbers to the DJ. In the AR, his clothes were a mix of fabric and circles of light, his face veiled behind the image of a pulsing wavelength following his music and, oh yeah, he had a sword. By that point thought, it only got an eyebrow rises from Nihlus. Pretty much everything supernatural seemed to love melee weapons. But then again, with things like heat knives around, he understood them. Final trait that stood out, more than the rest he hadn't mentioned that is, was the cables that were plugged into his upper neck, linking him to his console.

As Nihlus approached, the man turned to face him.

"Damn, what happened to your leg man?"

Spirit, this one was direct. "Accident."

"Oh yeah, must have been awesome. I remember the last time I lost an arm, that was a crazy night. But let's get going, don't want to keep the mistress waiting."

He leaned over his console, plunging into a whole new rhythm of electrical sounds and, Nihlus noticed it now, lights. And as he did, a door frame appeared behind him with only a veil hanging to it.

"Come on now. And by the way, you really need to switch to hot-sims man, or at least change your turian avatar, way too boring."

-What kind of drugs was this man running on?-

"What are you tal...?"

He didn't have the time to finish his sentence before the mountain of muscles behind him pushed him through the frame. Already off balance without his leg, the push was enough to send him through the veil and face down on the... soft, good smelling, heavy grass? For a moment, Nihlus stayed immobile as his senses were overtaken by a barrage of fragrances and odours each more powerful than the last one. Some made him salivate, other cry or feels like his body was a light as a feather. All were more intense than anything he had ever encountered.

"Now, now, Nihlus, it has been a long time since anyone saluted me in this manner."

Almost unwillingly, he raised his voice toward the familiar voice, taking in the new decor he found himself in.

The grass he was in was like emerald, shining under the pale moonlight. Around him, it was as if someone had fused together the Citadel inside and a forest. Trees of glass, walls of white flowers bleeding red and other impossible vegetation grew all over and through the walls of metal. Further ahead, at the end of a road of stones and skulls, yes skulls, was a little pontoon of interlaced roots that led to a small craft. His brain tried to understand just what was happening, and failed. Then it tried again, only to fail a second time.

"... what?"

"Come here Nihlus."

In a haze state he got back on his feet as best he could and limped toward the small boat. A silk sheet was held around the boat, isolating it and hiding what was inside. Even so, there was no mistaking this voice for another one. After having sat in it, again a little awkwardly due to the crutch, the boat started moving. He was glad she hadn't moved to help him doing so. It was already shameful to struggle with simply moving, he didn't want the undead monster to pity him on top of it. But he also had a very important question he needed an answer to it as quickly as possible.

"Is this real?"

"Why do you ask that?" Helena answered with a faintly unnerving smile.

"I just lost a leg. I might be still drugged and in the middle of a very vivid hallucination. It would explain a lot."

"It would be a valid supposition. But then again, as impossible to prove as the idea that the universe is nothing but an illusion and that you only are a brain in a jar."

Philosophy? Not a hallucination then, he had never liked philosophers. Especially the asari kind. Too much powder to the eye, not enough reality. It would take a krogan dose of drug to make his mind confused enough to even think about philosophy, the kind that would sooner kill him.

"Another digital illusion then?"

He took off the visor, nothing changed.

"Nihlus, between you and me, reality is only a matter of what you accept as real and reject as unreal. This is why most witness of supernatural events quickly rationalize or forget it. It doesn't fit the reality they created for themselves. You say what you saw in the club was an illusion, but many would consider it as real as anything else."

"Were all of them even there?"

"Some. You can do amazing things with VR technology. Push it enough and you can even begin to simulate smell, sounds, even touch. Digital and material are closer each day."

"Touch?"

"Yes, if you have the needed gear."

"Doesn't it make it not real if you need a machine to feel it?"

"You need a machine to see radiations. Does that make them not real?"

Nihlus huffed. "Is that the point of this club? Challenge people notions of reality?"

"Oh no, it's just a test, to see if there is interest for AR and VR technology of this kind outside of earth. Makes a good cover too. Lots of traffic in a club."

"I see." Yes, using full sensory VR, something unseen anywhere else, to be discreet. Perfectly logical. It wasn't sarcasm. That would actually work.

The Spectre paused to observe the swiftly changing decor around him. The Impossible night sky, the impossible trees, the impossible water around him, the impossible flowers and fruits.

"So, what's this place? A holographic projection? Are we just sitting in a dark room?"

He let his hand hover over the water, only for it to be grabbed by Helena and brought back into the boat in less than the blink of an eye.

"Spectre Nihlus, as a friendly advice for the future, never assume anything, even if you think it is only an illusion, is not dangerous. Especially when it is supernatural."

From her pocket, she produced a small white handkerchief and dropped it over the water. The moment it touched it, the handkerchief froze solid and shattered in a thousand shards.

At that, Nihlus too froze, but not from cold, from shock. Again he looked around him, seeing everything again under a new light, the one of unknown fear.

"So, I am in a boat, in an impossible river, in an impossible forest, on the other side of a door frame that appeared from nowhere. Have I gone mad?"

"I am afraid so. Good thing all of the best people usually are".

Being mad, now that was something Nihlus had never really been. It was really comforting because now that he was mad, he didn't have to ask himself the thousands of question a normal person would and could just accept the situation.

"Well, from a mad to another, why am I here?"

Back to her side of the boat, Helena smiled.

"Now that's a good question. Two answers, first, because I want your tale of the mission on Eden Prime and second because someone wants to meet you."

"How do you know about Eden Prime?"

"Nihlus, come on. You had to do a days of travel. Thoughts travel much faster than that."

"I... am not sure what you mean."

"It doesn't matter. Come on, and I don't want a military debriefing, I want a real tale."

"What about the person wanting to meet me?"

"We are going there as we speak. Now speak."

The last part of her sentence was not a proposition, it was an order. An order given with the same coldness she had butchered a whole mercenary squad. And so, he spoke.

xxxxxxxx

Nihlus didn't know how long he spoke, the world he was in was strangely lacking in signs of time passing, or at least the kind he could recognize. But when it ended, he felt as if he had spent days awake.

"Quite an adventure. Especially for someone as novice as you. But then again, you also had quite the escort."

"If you say so."

"Oh yes. They do have some measure of reputation. Though, I have no doubt you will make one for yourself in time."

His sight went down to his missing leg "Somehow I doubt that."

Only for her to laugh. It was an odd laugh to Nihlus, just a touch too cold to be completely honest. Almost as if she had forgotten to laugh, then relearned it using formative text.

"As if a lost limb could stop you. When I was young, maybe, but right now this is as debilitating as a broken bone."

"I don't think you realize..."

"No Nihlus, it is you who doesn't realize just how advanced this universe really is."

"Maybe." 'After all, if magic existed, then everything is possible.'

"Exactly. Now ready yourself."

"Huh?"

The boat shook as it hit a pontoon and stopped moving.

"We've arrived I believe. People are expecting you."

"You still haven't told me who wanted to see me?"

"People in the know. In the old days, they were mostly with the former United States of America, but nowadays they have moved in with the UN. They are in many ways similar to the Citadel Spectre, protecting governments against threats, simply they focus on the supernatural kind. And they actually are a secret organization."

"And why do they want to see me?"

"Nihlus, why would a secret organization of supernatural hunters want to meet you? An organization which has been paying me for report on you for the last year."

"What?"

"Yes. I'll admit I was a little surprised when they showed interest in you, but you do fit the usual profile of their recruits."

"I see." He wasn't that surprised that he had been watched. His picture was on the extranet with the mention Spectre beside it after all. "And they have a safehouse on the Citadel?"

"Most certainly, though it is not where you are going."

"Of course."

Slowly and with precautions, Nihlus extricated himself from the small boat and climbed onto the new pontoon. The environment here was wildly different, large tree with soft pink flowers, a high frame of red wood with curved extremities, puddle of black water and, stuck alone atop a small hill, a metal door. Over him, the sky was filled with large and heavy dark clouds that seemed ready to burst open at any moment.

"Wha..." He turned to ask Helena, only to discover her gone. "Great."

Readying himself for anything, literally anything, he pushed the door open and passed the threshold.

* * *

There was many things Nihlus was expecting. A dark room hidden deep beneath the Citadel being the most likely, maybe a dark alley, or a club even, or some other discreet location. He sure as hell didn't expect a rainy rooftop surrounded by tall skyscrapers with for sole company a single man in a black suit with an umbrella to shield him from the rain battering the landscape.

At the sight of him, the man bowed. "Spectre Nihlus, I am Mr. Kim. Welcome to Seoul."

Battered by the violent rain, the turian stood still and silent, too shocked to move, even less answer.

"I... huh...

"Take all the time you need."

Said the man, an understanding smile on his face.

"… We're on... in a city."

"Yes. Seoul, the capital of Korea."

"Korea? Which is?"

"On Earth."

"And by that you mean..."

"Humanity home world, yes."

"The planet that is at least a week of travel away from the Citadel with the fastest ships."

"Yes."

"Which I just did in..."

"Two hours and..." He checked his watch. "Twelve minutes."

"Okay..."

The next five minutes passed in silence as Mr. Kim waited for Nihlus brain to catch on with the situation and accept it.

"Are you feeling better Spectre Nihlus."

"A little I think."

"Good, then if you would please follow me."

Nihlus followed the man toward the center of the rooftop, trying to get some sort of bearing on the situation.

"And where are we goi..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the man in a suit grabbed an invisible handle and pulled, sliding open the large door of some aerial vehicle that had been up until now completely invisible. Now that he looked more closely, he could see a slight shimming when the water hits the frame and there was a problem in the way the puddle formed under the vehicle, but he was right beside it. Otherwise, even looking for it he doubts he would have seen it otherwise.

"Come in Spectre Nihlus."

Said the man who had already climb into the VTOL.

"Wait. Just how many people are really here?" He had a bad feeling about the answer.

The man expression didn't change, still an unreadable mask of politeness.

"Beside us, only the pilot. Though, a thousand apologies for my impertinence, but you probably wanted to know about these."

He pointed upward, to the four small SP69/75 Aero security bot, Nihlus would learn the name latter, hovering slowly over the rooftop, their underbelly Gatling gun menacingly watching him and any possible threat.

"Now come Spectre Nihlus, we have much to discuss."

xxxxxxxx

Inside the belly of the machine, Nihlus sat facing Mr Kim. The only sign of movement from the craft was the constant buzzing and the occasional small bump.

"Spectre Nihlus, now that we are away from possible eavesdroppers, we may discuss. I would first like to clarify our intentions towards you. Then, I will answer any question you might have. Is this agreeable?"

"Don't really have a choice do I."

"Of course you have. If you do not want to continue this discussion, we will let you back to the Citadel without any problem."

Just after they inject him with enough Minun serum that he would forget having ever met him, but that's another stories.

"Go on then."

"With pleasure. Now, for the last two centuries our organization has worked toward the removal of supernatural influence on humanity governments with the help of bleeding edge technologies. But recently, with the expansion into space and, most importantly, the contact with the Citadel races, some new problems have arisen. Especially, the lack of personnel. We have an incredibly hard time maintaining a presence in even the closest and oldest of colonies, and close to none in the new ones. The lack of solid government and of communication mean that in almost all cases, supernatural creatures met no opposition. In the old days, we could often count on local hunters to provide a temporary buffer, but these days it is more wishful thinking than anything else. And so, this is where you enter. We have followed your investigations on some of the minor supernatural events of the Citadel and, more recently, your part in the Eden Prime conflict."

"Conflict?"

"Please, wait a moment for your questions. So, seeing your interest in the supernatural and your mission as a Spectre, one of the few with no second patron I might add, it seems your goals and the ones of our organization are aligned, which is why we would like to make you an offer of sort. We are not asking you to give your loyalty to Earth or Humanity, of course. Our organization has many agents from different nations, some even at war with another, and is strictly apolitical. No, our interest lie strictly in the fight against the supernatural and we think you would be a great asset in this. Not counting your rather large powers, your training and military qualities are exactly the kind we usually look for. As such, we are ready to give you access to the same resources as our field agents as well as help when possible. Interested?"

Interested? Now that was a good question. Especially considering Nihlus current state of mind. How did this Krogan warlord had put it before? Ah yes, like you're drifting in space, slowly falling toward the atmosphere with only your damaged armor to protect you.

"And in exchange?"

"Well, we do expect you to focus a little more on supernatural threats and less on mundane ones. As well as keeping our organization a secret and sending mission reports. Though the last part will probably not be a problem seeing the lack of similar organization on your side."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Nihlus couldn't help adding a little growl to his question. Why did every human connect to the supernatural seemed so patronizing of the Citadel's races?

"Because otherwise, Spectre Nihlus, they would already have recruited you."

He sighed. "Fair point. But as attracting as this proposition is, I wonder why you still bothered to speak it while knowing my reduced state."

For a moment, Kim stayed silent, then began laughing.

"Oh Spectre Nihlus, as if a missing limb was a problem nowadays. I do not think there is a single member of our organization that hadn't a prosthetic member for the whole last century. Do not worry, this little detail will be fixed in a day."

"Even if I am a turian?"

"Of course, humanity actually tried to penetrate the turian market for prosthetic. That is, before we learned of your traditional view on the subject. We already have several models for turian that are being adapted as we speak."

"Huh, I didn't really expect that. So, you really are just going to offer me access to your advanced weaponry without expecting anything in return. Sorry if I still find that unlikely."

"Spectre Nihlus, you still seem to think of us as a political group in the like of the Spectre or STG. We are not. We fight against creatures and being that know no nationality or race and thus we know none either. We are not trying to use you as a tool or agent like the Shadow Broker or the Council."

That was hard to believe, but that was a better offer than anything else right now.

"Very well, where do a sign?"

With a smirk, the man produced a two inch thick document and a pen.

"A couple of places. And don't worry, it will all be fine."

Yeah, somehow he doubted it.

* * *

His eyelid felt like lead over his eyes while all of his body seemed to have the dexterity and lightness of a brick. His mind felt similar, sluggish, as if some parts didn't even exist and a dead weight atop his neck. The only clear thing was the constant alarm siren blaring into his ear and the feminine voice that seemed to come from inside his head.

"Spectre, you need to stay calm. Don't panic!"

Called it.


	9. Changes: part 2

So, new chapter still with Nihlus. This whole thing started for me as just a footnote, a short extract about what Nihlus was up to after Eden Prime and before the meeting between Shepard and the Council. It was not supposed to be longer than a chapter and a half, at most. As of now, I have three or four chapter planned and partly written just about him on Earth. Also, it provides a good way to introduce and explain a lot of the new tech, especially the next chapter. If you have some experience with cyberpunk games or roleplaying games, you should recognize most of them. Finally, yes, most of it is superior to the cannon universe and yet probably inferior to what almost two centuries of advancement should have given humanity.

Noob: Thanks.

* * *

_Atlantean_

**Spirit Tongue**

-personal thoughts-

=Comlink=

* * *

**Changes:** part 2

Escaping surgery

Still half awake, he naturally tried to breathe only to find his throat blocked by some large tube and his nose filled by a heavy and viscous liquid. Panic shot through his brain, forcing his groggy body to start moving.

"Your heart rate is rising, please calm down and stop fighting."

His jaw was held close and sealed by some kind of rubber like tissue, it also prevented him from removing the pipe going down inside his throat. Already he could feel the fire start to burn through his lungs with the lack of oxygen. The only light Nihlus could see in this, whatever it was, place was in front of him. A dim rectangle of something that was behind him and, hopefully, air.

"I need you to stay calm while I try to drain your pod. Fighting will only serve to burn oxygen faster and render you unconscious. The possible cerebral damage incurred by such an event would be detrimental to your survival."

Suspended in water as he was, punching the surface of his prison would have been pointless. Rather, he braced himself against the back of the pod and began pushing as hard as he could.

"Please, stop trying to break the pod. The system is already damaged well beyond repair without you helping."

It was as if his lungs were on fire as he put all of his strength into his legs, feeling his muscles tense near breaking point. Black dots had begun to fill his already blurred vision, but he continued pushing. It was, after all, probably his last action on this world so better finish it. That and cursing Task Force Valkyrie.

"Fine. Have it your way brute." Said the voice with a distinctive peeved tone.

Immediately, he felt as if adrenaline had been injected directly into his legs, both legs actually, burning like lava through them. Then, as if it had been made of paper, the pod door bent and folded on itself as it was ripped off its hinges with a great sound of metal being twisted and torn apart. The liquid surrounding him flowed out on the ground and the rubber like thing around his maw was released, allowing him to rip it off and forcefully drag the tube out of his throat. His body convulsed, trying to vomit in order to accelerate the expulsion the foreign object, but only managed to irritate his mouth with stomach acid since he hadn't eaten in the last 24 hours. Blinded by the bright light he stumbled forward, only motivated by the desire to escape the pod. He didn't count on something ripping itself off the back of his neck and sending an electrical shock through his brain. The force of it sent him to the ground, his body thrashing and shaking, his limbs flailing and his fingers twitching. He spent the next few minutes lying on the ground, slowly waiting to regain the control of his bruised body and vision.

"Your heartbeat is slowly going back to normal as well as most of your other basic vitals. Forceful disconnection might have caused irreparable damages. To assess potential damage, please get up."

Slowly, Nihlus felt his memory come back to him. The travel in the flying vehicle, the discussion with Mr. Kim, the details about the operation, the sedation and then darkness. At the same time, he took conscience of the coldness of the room, of the thin ice sheet under him, of his new leg. Gently, he moved his toes. He knew they were nothing but metal and wires, yet he could feel them rubbing against each other, feel the icy surface in contact with it. What he couldn't feel though was the cold. Then, his hand moved to his neck and the small metal disk and plug implanted there. A Datajack, directly linked to his brain and allowing him to manipulate and communicate with machines when connected through a direct neural interface. If anyone had told him about something like that a month ago, he would have laughed.

"Please, get up." Repeated the mechanical voice.

He grunted. This voice was getting on his nerves pretty fast. Whoever it was, and it was a She because VIs don't have that kind of reaction, he was going to have a good discussion with. He slowly got up, feeling his new body and waiting for any more pain. None came.

"Good. Now, look up."

"Spirits, I'm alright! Now tell me what… the hell?"

He remembered this room; it was the surgery room they had brought him too before sedating him. There was the robotic arms hanging from the ceiling, the glass shelves and cupboard filled with medical items, the operation bed, the tank or pod thing he had just exited and remembered having seen when he entered, didn't know what it was used for and still didn't, and even a medical worker. The only yet major difference was that everything was frozen cold. There was no actual ice beside the liquid from his tank, things were just frozen. The bed-sheet on the table was now a solid block and when he touched it, the tissue shattered in a thousand shards. The metal pieces were twisted and broken, completely shattered wherever weight had been put on them. That was no gradual process, it was as if something had flashed frozen the entire room.

"What happened here?"

"Forty-nine hours ago, you were put under sedatives. Dr. Manhen then proceeded to accomplish a thirteen hours operation during which you were implanted the standard Task Force Valkyrie agent package and a prosthetic limb. After the operation, you were put inside a regenerative pod to recuperate and program the nanomachines inside your body."

"Nanomachines!? What do you mean nanomachines? And program nanomachines? Don't you have a program already?"

"… The nanomachines are present in every part of your body…"

"They are what!?

"…can interact with every cell. They need to be customized perfectly and with no possibly of bugging, less you want them to someday consider your bones to be a virus and reprogram themselves to eat and recycle them into nutriments. A process complicated by your alien biology. This is a complex and life-threatening process that you chose to interrupt by doing the equivalent of a forced shut down in the middle of the update when you ripped off the fibreoptic. Agent Nihlus, you are lucky that they haven't already started eating your liver. Now, if you please, may I continue my situation report." Even through the electronic distortion, he could feel the raciness in her voice.

"As you wish." He put this little bit about nanomachines in a corner of his mind. He was going to have a long discussion with someone on that.

"Good. One hour ago, this base's communications with the exterior were cut. Enemy troops breached the first line of defense and invaded the base. Primary analysis identifies them as belonging to the System Alliance black ops group, also called Vanguard. Before the system was corrupted, twenty-six enemies were identified. Amongst them, five biotics and one Alpha level Cryokinesist were also identified."

"Cryokinesist?"

"Someone with the ability to lower temperature. Task Force Valkyrie qualifies an Alpha Cryokinesist as someone with the ability to provoke a drop in temperature of over one hundred degree Celsius in less than three seconds."

Nihlus' sight turned back to the frozen figure of the medical worker, standing upright beside a computer. It seemed that life for him nowadays was reduced to a competition of what new strange human ability would be the more 'shit your pants and kill yourself' scary. That scored pretty high on the list.

"So, someone lowered the temperature of this room below a hundred…"

"The instruments recorded a temperature of minus one hundred and eighty-three throughout the medical and armory wings. The lethality of the temperature drops was total with one exception. Current temperature is minus twelve Celsius."

-That explain why I'm freezing.- "Why me?" Turian might be a little more resistant to sunburn and radiation, but they still turned to ice shards when their bodies dropped to minus a hundred.

"The regenerative pod is filled with medi-gel. This is what kept you alive. It is also why you were woken up in the middle of the draining procedure. The system has been heavily compromised by the sudden drop in temperature."

"Okay, and what is the situation right now?"

"Over 90% of the base's personnel is confirmed KIA. Pockets of resistance are still fighting in some zones, but their chances of successfully counter-attacking the invaders are less than 6.3%. Right now, it is highly probable that the Alliance will achieve its goal."

"Which is?"

"The capture of this base's data-bank."

"Can't you just wipe them out?"

"No. Most of the systems have been destroyed during the assault. The only things still responding are some doors, cameras and minor systems."

"I see." Yes, the situation was beyond bad. Not only did he not know where he was, he was unarmed, with no clothes and there were people killing everything in their way all around him. But there was also something else. "Wait, how are you talking to me?"

"I programmed some of the nanomachines in your body to reproduce the effect of a comlink."

"Oh, talking about that…"

"I expect you have at least two hours before they start bugging catastrophically and another three before you die. Unless you manage to find someone able to program Task Force Valkyrie nanomachines in this time."

"And I suppose you are the only one around here?"

"To my knowledge."

Of course. He had just been awoken from forced sleep and now had to stage what amounted to a hostage rescue. Strangely though, it probably was one of the most normal situations he had found himself in lately. The "hostage rescue" that is, not the rest.

xxxxxxxx

The door to the corridor easily slides open, the frozen gear shattering at the merest pull. Outside, Nihlus could see the frozen figures of human either standing still, or broken into slowly defrosting pieces sprawled on the ground. Many of the lights were off, the electrical circuit having broken apart. The corridor itself was painted completely white, clear of any decorations or such. The ceiling was a rectangle of light with rectangles of black in-between. The doors were all unmarked and even hard to see in the corridor's sides. In short, unless you knew where you were going, you would get lost in less than five minutes in there, which probably was the point.

"Where to?"

"On your right. Be careful though, some enemies might still be roaming in the corridor cloaked."

Awesome, invisible enemies in armor.

"I need weapons… and clothes."

"The closest weapon is six rooms down on your path. No clothes in the base fits your morphology."

-Go figure.-

"Also, in an effort of stealth, I will now enable silent mode with your comlink."

"Silent what?"

"From now on think your answer."

He raised an eyebrow, skeptic. -Like that.-

"Exactly."

He could repress a jerk. -Wait, you can hear my thoughts?-

"Until you do the tutorial for your implants, yes."

-…And won't they hear you?-

There was a long pause from the voice, then. "You do realize I am speaking with you by sending coded signals to nanomachines inside your ear that makes your eardrums vibrate, not through a speaker."

-Oh, sorry, I'm…"

"Used to talking to your wrist. Understood. Next door for your weapon."

Nihlus stopped in front of said door, stepping carefully around the shattered remains of what might have been a researcher. This one was of a bright red and completely frozen shut, like everything around.

"Kick it."

-Sorry?-

"Kick. It."

-I don't think…-

"Your right leg is made of a bullet and laser resistant alloy strong enough to withstand the pressure of an industrial press and with enough strength to pierce through a Mako's armor. Will you please kick the door open you backward xenos!"

It felt weird to Nihlus. Past experience screamed at him that this was going to hurt like hell while what he knew from his new limb based on the information he had gotten told him it was fine. But now probably wasn't the time to argue. Bracing himself, he lifted his leg and kicked the door with all the strength he could, waiting for the pain to move up the rest of his body as the metal bent. He was a little off balance when his leg simply passed through the door, pushing aside the metal and dragging him forward.

-Shit!-

He jumped awkwardly on one foot, trying not to slip on the icy floor while his right limb was down up through the waist into a hole.

"Nihlus Kryik. Your file says you are a Spectre, one of the best operatives in the galaxy. Did you fake your file?"

-Haha ha, very funny.-

It took a little time and effort, but he managed to get his leg out of that slightly embarrassing position. After that, it wasn't hard to slide open the door by the hole he had made. The room he entered was, rather had been, some kinds of laboratory. There were computers, tables, lots of instruments he hadn't the slightest idea how they worked and against the wall over some machines with crystals protruding out of it and such, suspended by delicate looking claws, was his knife.

-Why is that here!?-

"Mr. Kim wanted to make some tests to determine if it had any properties. Its alien design suggested it might."

He grabbed it from its support, not caring when the fragile claws shattered.

–He could have asked.-

"No, that would have informed you of his intentions, probably making you more suspicious and wary of him. Doing it without your knowledge allowed us to gain possible information, information you wouldn't have known we had, giving us another advantage over you."

He snickered. –You're very straightforward you know. Did they find anything?-

"The material molecular structure is unnatural and is not stable in accord to modern physics. It is maintained together by highly active ephemeral energy in a manner similar to our etheric rounds."

-Got it. And if I had to repeat to someone else…-

"It is a very strong and sharp knife that can cause harm to incorporeal beings present on our plane or very close to it."

-Okay, and if the other person was an idiot?-

"Knife hurt ghost and spirit."

-Thank you. But I could do without the sarcasm in the future.-

"Acknowledged and pending evaluation. On a more urgent matter, hide. I detected a Hound coming toward you."

-A what?-

He was sure he heard a metallic sigh from her before she answered.

"A bio-engineered beast able to bite through metal, very aggressive and technologically enhanced to be invisible to the light spectrum. I would suggest an elevated hiding position. You have 67 seconds left."

-Dammit!-

xxxxxxxx

Nihlus was crouched atop a machine in the corner of the room, feeling ridiculous and completely exposed with his head pressed against the ceiling, no clothes and a simple knife as his only means of defense.

-This is ridiculous. I can't even see the thing.-

"Listen and watch."

Pushing his civilized instinct aside, he waited like his ancestors had. Even if it was mostly lost today, turians had after all evolved from predators. With each step it took the Hound's claws scraped against the cold floor, leaving clear marks. In the cold atmosphere, he could also see the beast's breath, a small cloud of white seemingly coming from nowhere. Short growls, sniff in the air and such helped the Spectre to more or less spot its position. In a fight or a run though, he probably wouldn't have noticed the thing before it was on him. And it was big, at least a meter and a half long and probably full of teeth and claws.

-Now what?-

"Aren't you an elite special operative?"

-Spirits dammit! This is insane.-

Taking a deep breath and making a prayer to the spirits who probably existed anyway, Nihlus calculated his jump, tightened his grip on his weapon and threw himself at the thing.

xxxxxxxx

-I smell like shit.-

"I do not have the olfactory sensor to validate or invalidate that claim."

-Well, I have and can say that I smell like shit.-

"Your frustration makes you an unreliable source. But it is known that the putrid odor of Hound's blood is by design."

-Ah! So I do stink. And what do you mean design?-

"The bad smell makes detection easier by human allies as well as tracking by other Hounds."

-Of course, just perfect.-

By now, even his close friends would have had trouble associating the stern looking turian in red armor with the naked one running in the corridor, covered in black red blood and green pus with a knife in hand. Not helping were the troopers in grayish armor, a surprisingly good camouflage in this environment, running after him and taking pot-shots when they could. His only help was in the form of the various anti-fire measures being activated behind him.

"Right door."

He slammed into said door, pushing it aside with the energy of panic before rushing inside what appeared to be a medium size office. A discussion place with two coaches and a chair, three bookcases, a large desk, a leather chair and some other furniture. Reflectively, he dragged the bookcases in front of the door, packing them and anything not bolted to the ground in front of it.

-Okay, what now?-

"On the left corner there is a strongbox rater. Enter the code 0451."

He did, doing his best to ignore the sound of the men and Hounds ramming his meager defenses. No doubt that they would soon put explosives to work. The small box of black metal worked perfectly, the door smoothly opening to reveal a common looking backpack.

"You're looking for a small rebreather and duct tape."

The rebreather, a human model, he found. The other thing though.

–I am looking for a bird?-

"Ah, translation error. Grab the roll of gray adhesive band and use it to strap the rebreather to yourself. Then, pull the lever down the strongbox."

He obeyed, making sure the adhesive covered every hole on his face. Turians really weren't made for water, the impossibility to seal their jaw only the first of their problems. So when the floor behind slid to reveal a submerged tunnel, he was at least partially sure he wouldn't drown. Not waiting a second more, he threw himself into it, just a moment before his barricade was blown open.

xxxxxxxx

The tunnel was dark and cramped and even by being slender than a common human Nihlus was barely able to move in it. Fortunately, the person who had built this had added handles on the wall to move forward. Very useful in the total darkness of the tunnel.

"Did you leave the backpack behind?"

-No, why? Don't tell me there's a bomb in it.-

"No. Only money, a false ID and a PS20."

-A what?-

"A one shot plasma pistol."

He stopped.

"Agent Nihlus, why did you stop? Is there an obstacle. Damage to the tunnel?"

-Plasma.-

"There is plasma damage?"

-There is a freaking plasma pistol in the backpack!-

"… Plasma technology is very safe. There is no chance of it..."

-That's not the damn point. Just when the hell did you start producing those things?-

"Officially, plasma technology was never produced."

-Just give the date your freaking organization started using them.-

"Officially, the sixth month of the year 2093. Council calendar."

He stayed immobile, turning the answer in his head and whishing he could sigh without spiting his rebreather.

-The more I am around secret human technology, the more I wonder if you didn't just fake losing Shanxi to us.-

"That would be an insane conspiracy, agent Nihlus."

-Well apparently that theory looks more credible with each discovery I make.-

xxxxxxxx

He emerged from the long tunnel, some fifty meters long he was sure, into a cold blue room also submerged. The dark water was less than the tunnel, but he still couldn't see more than his arm's length in front of him. Blurred shapes surrounded him, curling in the water like long tentacles.

-If there is a giant octopus guarding this room I am going to scream. Where are you? Is this some kind of buffer? Are you in a safe room?-

"I'm right in front of you."

-What?-

The water suddenly turned translucent as several lights were switched on, revealing some kind of giant arcane machinery. Giant cables filled the space, coming from all around him to link to a large tower some five meters high and three meters wide. Bubbles of boiling water sprouted from the cable connection points, moving up around him and the monstrous server. Pulsating lights of red, blue, white, green and yellow came from the tower, irregular flashes that only helped to give the monolith a more sinister appearance.

-What in all of humanity's insanity are you?-

"You do not have a sufficiently high level of clearance to know this."

The lights pulsed, following her speech pattern.

-I'm a Spectre and the only one able to get you out. Speak-

"Your Council given rank has no value and you need my help too to get out. Making both right and threat irrelevant. But, to calm your post-geth education prejudice I can confirm that I was a fully organic human female at one point."

-And I have to believe you because you say so?-

"Yes. The other option being you dying, the logical choice would be to cooperate with me."

-And after that, what assurance have I that…-

"None, which are equal to the chances you would have if I still had an organic body. Now, we have two minutes left before I have exhausted all the power left to prevent the enemy from freezing this room and you along with it. Now, since your heartbeat, brain wave and other monitored biological indicators indicate you have taken a decision, please swim down toward the middle of the server until you find a white panel."

Reluctantly, Nihlus went down. The white panel was easy to find, even underwater, and a simple push on it was enough to make it slide aside and reveal a keyboard.

-Now what.- He mentally grunted.

"Follow my instructions to the letter. And Agent Nihlus, once you will have extracted me, I won't be able to enter in contact with you until you connect yourself to me."

-So I'm supposed to link you directly to my brain?-

"If you want to survive, yes. Now, first press…"

xxxxxxxx

The tower began to tremble as Nihlus pressed the last button on the keyboard. Lights flashed in rapid succession before shutting down one by one, cables fell out of their holes and electronics short-circuited visibly. Then, the whole middle section began to literally fall apart, the large panels drifting away to reveal the inside of the machine. There, maintained in place by a web of fibreoptics was a metallic human brain. There was not really any other way for Nihlus to understand it. He could recognize the cerebrum, the cerebellum and even a small brain stem from his course on human anatomy, except they were either covered in a dark gray metal or they were made of metal. Delicately, he removed it from its support. He didn't know if it was solid or fragile, only that he could so easily let it drop at the bottom of this strange tank and probably find a way to get out by himself. Or, he could connect it directly to his brain.

This sounds like such a bad idea. But then again, he had had a very polite discussion with an immortal blood sucking undead only a days before. Maybe this wouldn't end with him a zombie, a prisoner in his own body, watching helplessly as some kind of foreign intelligence controlled his body. Maybe.

-Then again, she could have easily forced me to do this in a lot of ways. And she probably could have taken control of me back when I was in the pod. Or maybe she did and that's why I woke up? Dammit. I really hate not knowing anything. First time I get a break from this crazy ride, I need to find some reliable information. And Spirits, please make that a good decision.-

With precaution he put the brain inside the backpack, grabbed the fibreoptic hanging from the brain stem and plugged it into his datajack. It felt like as if a thousand of small needles had been suddenly jammed into his neck for only a second.

-Aie!-

=You will get used to it.=

-Wow.-It felt weird to hear her voice coming from inside his head, like hearing someone's thoughts over his own.

=You connected me just in time. Your liver is already starting to fail and your adrenaline production is out of control. Most probable reason as to why you haven't noticed the temperature change.=

-Wait, what?-

He suddenly realized that, effectively, the water now felt quite cold, if artic like can be qualified as cold, and that part of the tank on his left were now solid ice.

=Nanomachine's action. I am already correcting the problems. Though the damage to your reproduction organs might make you temporarily sterile. To escape death swim upward, there is an escape ladder leading to the hangar from here.=

-Shit!-

xxxxxxxx

The trap under him slid close, separating him from the damn water. The shaft he was in was lit only by emergency red lights that seemed to climb forever, giving the cramped space an ominous atmosphere.

-How long till I get out?-

=500 meters.=

-Just great.-

And so he started climbing the ladder. One step at a time.

-Okay, since we have the time I want some answers. What are you, were they really coming for the databank, what are you doing and what is this place?-

=As I have already said, you do not have the clearance to know those information.=

-Well, the rest of the personnel are dead, doesn't that make me go up in grade?-

=Agent Nihlus, we are a governmental organization, not some random mercenary group. Though, yes there exists some precedent case for this kind of situation. Going by emergency protocol, as the senior agent I can reveal to you information I believe will help us survive the situation. As such, I believe you would be reassured and thus more effective if I calmed your concerns.=

-Long way to say yes.-

=Everything I say is recorded for review.=

-Oh, I see. Then, what exactly can I know now?-

=Many things, but I will limit myself to your primary questions. First, my identity. My codename was agent Scully and I was a field agent from 2125 to 2175 until I was cursed by an entity of unknown power during an operation on the dark face of the moon.=

-Cursed?-

=The details are personal and confidential. The end result was the loss of my physical body and my conversion to a full cyberbrain.=

-Cyberbrain?-

=Cyberization is the process whereby a normal brain is physically integrated with electronic components to produce an augmented organ referred to as a cyberbrain. Cyberbrain implants allow the brain to initiate and maintain a connection to computer networks or other individuals who also possess a cyberbrain. Before you ask, I am a late fifth generation full cyberbrain while you are a new seventh generation partial cyberbrain. You will not be able to survive the destruction of your physical body or be transferred to a cyborg body. Back to your question, I was then assigned as the sysadmin of one of our networks. I was transferred to this secret facility three years ago to act as a data analyzer. Now for your second question, my task was to act as a consultant for our Korean teams using the Task Force Valkyrie databank. Each databank is a compilation of all of our knowledge acquired since the organization's creation, a quite valuable asset and something many would like to either own or destroy.=

-And do you still…-

=No. I deleted most of it in the time it took you to reach me, keeping only the essential. I do not have enough space in this state for it all.=

-Okay. But why you and not just a VI?-

=Because the presence of organic component in an electronic system makes it harder to infiltrate both by non and supernatural means. Furthermore, the experience of a field agent is seen as a valuable resource to judge situations and advise teams.=

-Makes sense, I think. But seems like a lightly defended place for such an important asset.-

=Not usually, but this place had been compromised recently and we were in the process of evacuating. We miscalculated the date of their attack.=

-Ah. So you are not infallible then. Good to know.-

=As for what I am doing right now, I already told you. I am finishing the programming of the nanomachine inside your body. Once this is over, you should have all of the advantage of a modern agent.=

-Which are? I know about the enhanced strength, speed, reflexes and such but not the details.-

=Until I finish the programing, it is irrelevant.=

-And how long until it is over?-

=With my current processing power, several days. More if I found the nanomachines have caused more damage to your body or problems with your biology. Also, please try not to get wounded.=

He huffed. –I'll do my best.-

=I am afraid it won't be enough. This shaft will lead you directly to the hangar which should be lightly defended. Each hostile you will met will have Cheiron top of the line bioware and at this moment, will surpass you in strength, speed, endurance and regeneration.=

-Who are they exactly? You said Alliance black ops. I have seen Alliance black ops, their N7 program, and those weren't.-

=The N7 program is only a functional front. The Alliance is, we believe and have proof of, controlled by a large Magus conspiracy. They use its power, resources and influence to pursue their own agenda. One we still are unclear about if only that it seems to involve a fight not against the supernatural, but the belief in the supernatural. They use the N7 program to indoctrinate sleeper agents throughout the Alliance military, amongst other means. Those individuals are often unaware of their status as agent until activated and sometimes have entirely different personalities when awake than when asleep. Once their task is done, they are put back to sleep with no memory. Other individuals with more special qualities are recruited into special permanent teams for mission like this one or involving the supernatural.=

-They don't send mages?-

=Maybe, but never directly against us yet. The general consensus is that this is both a good thing, as magus are extremely dangerous opponents, and a bad thing as we haven't disturbed their operation enough to warrant this level of attention.=

-I see.-

xxxxxxxx

Nihlus' arms felt like concrete blocks, barely able to move. His fingers were stiff and tight around the ladder's last bar, it was as painful to maintain his grip as it was to let go.

-Don't suppose you can do something for me?-

=In a couple of hours, yes. Though I can maintain your adrenaline level to their highest.=

-Dammit. Okay, what am I working with here?-

=Over your head is a standard hangar with all the material expected. Your target is an aircraft that will be fifty meters to your right and should have its ramp deployed. You need to pull a lever on the wall beside it, a black lever, then connect me to an interface inside.=

-And what about the fire system. Inifuge smoke would be useful.-

=I can't activate the system remotely, but the manual release should still work. Or you could start a fire. Also, note that you still are covered in Hound blood. You will be detected in a matter of seconds once you pass the trap.=

He looked down. Effectively, the heavy and sick looking blood still clung to his body even after having swum the equivalent of the Presidium pool.

-Nothing is ever easy these days.-

xxxxxxxx

Nihlus felt the hot trails of bullets breeze past him, the shooters invisible in the white cloud of anti-flame gas that had filled the hangar. Ha ran past the blurred shape of large aircrafts, heavy machinery, fuel tubes, bodies and other objects. Blindly, he threw a stitched up blowtorch and fuel can behind him, not turning to aim of see the fireball. He did felt his back heat up though.

-Shit! Shit! Shit!-

The cannon round hissed just over his head, hitting the reinforced concrete wall and blowing a hole the size of a turian chest in it.

=I didn't expect them to bring a Rook mech. The most probable reason is to intercept arriving aircraft. It's not commonly seen outside of the solar system or human centric mercenary groups. It has a 40mm cannon and a…=

-Shut up! Fucking human tech!-

The next thing he heard was a staccato of explosions going so fast they simply fused into one continuous sound and the sight of the aircraft in front of him being grinded into scraps by bullets.

=And a three barrel fifty caliber machine gun that can easily penetrate a civil stealth craft like this one.=

"I hate you all and your stupid crazy weapons!"

=Shouting insults to the enemy will not help you to stay hidden.=

"I don't care anymore!"

Another cannon round wizzed by him, blowing apart some kind of machinery and revealing at the same time a certain black lever. Nihlus didn't hesitate; he just leaped forward and rushed the lever like his life depended on it, mostly because it was. He pulled on it, a moment before it was shredded by a hailstorm of bullets. He tumbled forward, part of the severed lever still in his hand. Under him, the ground began to vibrate and rumble, throwing him even more off balance.

"What now!"

"Launching platform is being raised. The craft should be some meters to your left."

He felt water against his back as the ceiling over him parted apart, revealing a sky of dark gray cloud, heavy rain and strong wind that screamed at his ears. The gas that previously filled the room cleared through the new opening, revealing to him his means of escape. It looked exactly like the one that had brought him here, wherever here was, with its back hatch opened. His muscles protested as he got up for yet again another sprint for his life, as if shards of glass were being jammed into his organic limbs with each movement. But he wasn't going to stop now, not his style.

Panting, he entered the aircraft. The belly of the machine was lit by red lights, highlighting the datajack plug along the seats. He felt like his fingers were breaking as he opened the backpack and extracted the cyberbrain to plug it. Almost immediately, he heard the sound of engines starting accompanied by the low vibrating of the craft frame.

"Finally. Let's get o…"

The body slam sent him flying against the other side of the passenger bay and crashing against the wall. As he collapsed on the ground, he felt something snap in his right shoulder.

"Wha…!?"

Powerful hands grabbed him and lifted him in the air to slam his body against the ceiling like he weighted nothing before throwing him one more time to the ground with enough strength to knock the air out of his lungs. He felt something crack in his biological limb when he tried to push himself back up.

"Holy shit you guys are weak. How in the hell did we lose against you?"

Through his blurred vision, he saw the towering shape of an enemy soldier. It was his first time seeing one of those Alliance black ops up close, even if his vision was currently filled with black dots. Their armor looked not largely different from anything else that was used by other elite groups if not for the large amount of straps holding magazines, grenades and weapons. It was slightly more bulky overall but much more strength enhancing than anything he had seen, as he had just experienced firsthand.

"Anything to say?"

The soldier continued, putting his foot down on Nihlus' chest nonchalantly but with enough power to crush two of his ribs with a loud crack the turian felt particularly vividly.

"F… Fu…" The Spectre barely managed to cough.

The soldier bent forward to grab his wounded shoulder, getting a growl of Nihlus.

"Yeah, guessed as much. Come on now, what did you do to start this thing?"

Using what little strength he had, the turian grabbed his knife and swung at the man. The sharp blade scrapped ineffectively against the armor.

"Wow. Careful with that."

The man snatched the weapon from his weak grip, slapped his right hand aside and jammed it through his hand and through one of the seat, pinning the turian into place.

"There. Fixed."

Now with the strength of desperation, Nihlus slammed the piece of lever still in his grip at the soldier's hand, achieving the great result of lightly scratching the paint and making the man chuckle.

"Seriously? You though you could so something against this armor with a broken ass piece of metal?"

Still chuckling, he crouched on the Spectre's chest and grabbed his wrist, brutally twisting and breaking it.

"Now I am really wondering how the fuck we lost against idiots like you."

He punctuated his statement with a right punch, then a left, then another right that broke Nihlus' jaw.

"Seriously, either the colonies are really pathetic or there is some sort of conspiracy going on."

Yet another punch shattered his jaw.

"Wow this is fun!"

The soldier armed another punch, only to tumble forward as the whole aircraft suddenly bucked forward due to a push of the engine.

"What the…?"

The push wasn't accidental. When Nihlus had been flung against the back of the passenger bay he had dropped the backpack. A backpack that was open and contained a one shot plasma pistol. The forward jerk of the craft was precisely calculated to allow the weapon to slide from his position to Nihlus free, if broken, hand. The Spectre felt the small shape between his fingers, a butt, a trigger and a frame, that's all he needed.

"Okay, back to you now. What did you…"

He never got to finish his sentence. In part because of his death, but mostly because Nihlus' shot burned all of the oxygen in his lungs, along with his lungs and a great part of his chest. Taking a ball of plasma point blank tends to do that.

The man's body crashed down on Nihlus, almost crushing him and certainly not helping his broken ribs.

-Spirit dammit!-

"Agent Nihlus, are you still conscious?" Came the slightly panicked voice of Scully through the craft speakers.

He grunted in pain under the ton of dead meat and metal.

"Good. You need to connect yourself to one if the free plugins. It is vital you do this in the next minute. 59. 58. 57."

He could feel his heard still pumping at an insane rhythm inside his chest, as if it wanted to burst out of his torso. Burst of liquid pain came from his pierced hand while the other felt limp and gave him the feeling of grinding his bones together when he moved. On his forehead and slowly going down his face was a trail of blood from when he had been smashed on the ceiling and his skull had fractured. On top of that, he could sense the signs of a concussion overtaking him.

"45. 44. 43."

Shit he hated countdowns. Wincing at every movement, he dragged himself out from under the soldier and half collapsed on one of the seats before slowly raising his free hand to grab the fibreoptic from its spot and bring it to his datajack.

"17. 16. 15."

First, second and fifth try missed, but at the sixth one he felt the invisible needles being jammed into his spinal cord as contact was made, just before he finally passed out.

-Better not wake up in another damn pod.-

* * *

He opened his eyes to find himself standing in a sea of pale white, no up, no down, no left, no right, no gravity, nothing but him and an infinite whiteness.

"Ah shit! Spirits, don't tell me I'm dead!"

* * *

**Task Force Valkyrie Archive**

**Power armor**

Current power armor used by many of Earth's military forces and other high end groups consist of a standard armor constructed around an exoskeleton that enhance the wearer's strength, speed and endurance. The first working exoskeletons were developed in the first decade of the twenty-first century and were constantly improved upon in the following years.

**Nanomachine implants**

Long believed to be in the realm of science-fiction and still considered as by most of the galaxy, the use of nanomachines to augment the human body has been one of the focuses of Task Force Valkyrie for a good part of the 21th century. Nanomachine implants finally became viable after a breakthrough in the last years of the 21th century and ushered what is now known as first generation nano-agents. This first generation had numerous problems, requiring weekly reprogramming and monthly invasive medical treatment in order for the agent's body not to be destroyed from the inside. Currently, Task Force Valkyrie is in the process of phasing out the fourth generation of nano-agents for the fifth. Where fourth generation nanomachines require a long time to implant on the agent's body, sometimes up to a year, and weekly doses of a stabilizing medication as well as regular programing updates, fifth generation nanomachines can be implanted and programmed in as short of a time as 24 hours and require only once a month medication. It is standard protocol to not inform the newly augmented agent of this fact until absolutely necessary should he prove too unprofessional in the use of his implants.

**Restricted informations. **

**Eyes Only**

_Task Force Valkyrie Science Division_

List of current fifth generation standard nano-implants.

**Passive implants**

**Head:**

-Balance augmenter

-Comlink with VR capability

-AR Matrix browsing capability, multiple telephone and radio modes of real-time talk and text, music players, micro tri-projectors, touchscreen displays, built in high-resolution digital video and still image cameras, image/text and RFID tag scanners, built-in GPS guidance systems, chip players, credstick readers, retractable earbuds, voice-access dialing, text-to-speech and speech-to-text technologies,

-Datajack

-Datalock

-Geiger counter

-Skilljack

-Sleep regulator

-Ultrasound Sensor

-Passive mode. Detect ultrasound emission.

**Eyes:**

-Flare compensation

-Flash compensation

-IFF

-Image link

-Low and High Light compensation

-Retinal HUD

-Smartlink

**Body:**

-Aqualung

-Allow the agent to stay underwater for a near indefinite amount of time. Refer to your supervisor for hard numbers and other questions.

-Bone lacing

-EMP hardening

-Implanted rebreather

-Chemical resistance

-Hyper-Oxygenation

-Orthoskin

-Radar Transparency

-Passive mode: Provides protection against standard cameras and scanning equipment by distorting sensors.

-Reaction enhancer

**Limbs:**

-Enhanced articulation

-Muscular enhancement

**Active implants:**

**Head:**

-Damper

-Voice modulator

**Eyes:**

-Body language analyser

-Infrared Vision

-Vision magnification

-Ultraviolet Vision

-Ultrasound Sensor

-Active mode: sends out continuous ultrasonic pulses and picks up the echoes of these pulses to create a topographic ultrasound map. Cannot penetrate glass.

**Body:**

-Valkyrie Regenerative Health System

-Angiogenesis Protein Therapy

-Cardiovertor Defibrillator

-Suprathyroid gland

-Symbiotes

-Synthacardium


End file.
